ZAGREB, June 26 (Reuters) - Autonomous vehicle startup

Project 3 Mobility (P3), set up by the founder of Croatian

electric vehicle maker Rimac Group, presented on Wednesday its

self-driving robotaxi named after French writer Jules Verne

ahead of a planned launch in 2026.

The startup expects that its fully autonomous two-seat

electric vehicle Verne will be able to run urban robotaxi

services, complete with an app for consumers and a hub for

charging, cleaning and maintenance, starting first in Zagreb.

"What we are trying to do is to deliver a luxury car

experience in the space of a compact car," Mate Rimac, CEO of

the Rimac Group, which is part-owned by Porsche AG,

said during the presentation.

"It's the size of a smaller vehicle, but has higher safety

and higher comfort than a luxury car."

Rimac said P3's 300 employees have been working for five

years to develop the car from scratch, using self-driving

software from Israel-based Mobileye Global ( MBLY ).

Zagreb and 10 other cities around the world have already

signed contracts for Verne taxis, named after the writer of

Around the World in Eighty Days. Talks with 20 more cities are

underway, said P3 CEO Marko Pejkovic.

The factory producing the vehicles will be built on the

outskirts of Zagreb, the capital's Mayor Tomislav Tomasevic

said.

Last February P3 closed its Series A funding round raising

around 100 million euros ($106.8 million) from private investors

including TASARU Mobility Investments, a unit of Saudi Arabia's

Public Investment Fund (PIF), South Korean automaker Kia

, and Rimac Group.

It has also won 180 million euros in grants from the

European Union for the project.

($1 = 0.9360 euros)