Rapido To Invest INR 1.5 Billion In Mobility And Infrastructure

Rapido To Invest INR 1.5 Billion In Mobility And Infrastructure

Rapido has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Transport Department of the Government of West Bengal to enhance urban mobility in the state. Currently executing one lakh rides per day across West Bengal, Rapido, as per the MoU will invest INR 1.5 billion towards initiatives such as electric mobility, women’s safety and to create road safety awareness. 
A significant portion of the INR 1.5 billion, which is INR 1.3 billion, will be directed towards the development of urban electric mobility by deploying electric vehicles across Kolkata and other parts of the state. Rapido will also work on building the necessary infrastructure to support a seamless transition to sustainable transportation in line with West Bengal’s commitment to reduce carbon emissions and improve last-mile connectivity.  
As per the MoU, Rapido will also focus on ‘Pink Mobility’ initiative, a programme that is designed to provide safe and reliable commuting options for women. The company will introduce a dedicated fleet of pink-coloured two-wheelers and four-wheelers, driven by women captains. To further encourage women’s participation in the transport sector, Rapido will also provide financial assistance worth INR 120 million over the next three years to enable women captains to own and operate their vehicles.
As part of the arrangement, Rapido has also pledged INR 50 million towards road safety and awareness campaigns. This will include quarterly driver training programmes in collaboration with government-accredited training centres, public awareness campaigns on traffic regulations and helmet distribution drives. Rapido will also work closely with the Transport Department to support state-led road safety initiatives, reinforcing its commitment to creating a safer commuting environment.

Image for representative purpose only. 

Zenobe Expands North American Operations With Acquisition Of Revolv

Zenobe

Zenobe, a fleet electrification and battery storage specialist, has acquired California-based Revolv to expand its electric truck operations in the United States. The transaction marks Zenobe's entry into the North American commercial fleet and truck segment.

The acquisition adds to Zenobe's established portfolio in student transportation and public transit across the U.S. and Canada.

Key additions to Zenobe’s network include:

  • Operational Sites: 13 customer sites located in California.
  • Fleet Size: More than 100 electric trucks integrated into the service network.
  • Project Pipeline: Additional commercial projects currently under development.

Zenobe intends to integrate the Revolv team to maintain continuity for existing customers and leverage regional expertise. The combined platform provides end-to-end solutions, including vehicle provision, charging infrastructure, financing and battery lifecycle management.

The expansion follows a period of growth in the U.S. Zero Emission Truck (ZET) market, where over 59,000 vehicles have been deployed nationwide. Zenobe’s strategy focuses on a battery-as-a-service (BaaS) model, which involves performance guarantees and the management of second-life battery applications to reduce risks for fleet operators.

The acquisition is supported by Zenobe’s major investors, KKR and Infracapital, as part of a broader effort to scale electrification in hard-to-decarbonise sectors.

Andreas Lips, President of EV North America, Zenobe, said, “Revolv's end-to-end fleet electrification model is highly complementary to Zenobe's global experience and our growth plans in North America. As commercial fleet electrification enters its next phase, operators are increasingly seeking partners who can deliver vehicles, infrastructure, financing and long-term battery performance under one roof. This acquisition strengthens our ability to provide flexible, end-to-end solutions at scale across North America.”

Steven Meersman, Founder Director, Zenobe, said, “This is a strong opportunity to accelerate electrification at scale, by pairing Revolv's fleet electrification platform with our deep experience and unique financing models. We're grateful to Revolv CEO Scott Davidson and the team at GDEV Management for backing Revolv early on. Now we are taking it to the next stage.”

51WORLD And Nvidia Announce Global Level 4 Simulation Partnership

51WORLD

51WORLD has been named as Nvidia’s global Level 4 simulation partner. The companies announced an integration between Nvidia Omniverse NuRec and 51WORLD’s SimOne platform during the Nvidia GTC Conference on 16 March 2026.

The collaboration utilises neural rendering technology to convert static, real-world collected scenario data into interactive simulation environments. This process is intended to address limitations in autonomous driving development workflows by making recorded data reactive.

The platform is designed to support the training of reasoning-based autonomous systems, including – world models, vision-language-action (VLA) models and physical AI development tools.

By transforming real-world data into interactive simulations, the integration increases the volume and variety of edge cases available for developers working on Level 4 autonomous systems.

At present, 51WORLD holds a 53.5 percent share of the L3+ simulation market in China. The partnership with Nvidia is intended to extend the company's reach into international autonomous driving programmes and provide development tooling for global automotive partners.

The announcement coincided with several related partnerships involving Nvidia’s DRIVE Hyperion, Omniverse and Alpamayo technologies, focused on the advancement of autonomous vehicle platforms.

Volvo Cars Secures World Leader Status For Software-Defined Vehicle Capabilities

Volvo Cars Secures World Leader Status For Software-Defined Vehicle Capabilities

Volvo Cars has earned the highest possible rating for software-defined vehicle (SDV) capabilities from S&P Global Mobility, standing alone among legacy automakers as the only one to achieve a Level 5 designation. This top-tier ranking underscores the company’s capacity to enhance nearly all aspects of a vehicle throughout its lifespan, delivering greater long-term value to customers. Through over-the-air (OTA) updates, Volvo can introduce new safety functions, accelerate charging speeds, extend driving range and refine the overall user experience.

The transition to software-defined vehicles represents a transformative leap for Volvo, empowering its cars on the road to continuously evolve and setting a new benchmark for safety. As part of its most significant technological overhaul in nearly a century, the company now leverages real-world data to generate insights that inform the development of future safety and driver assistance systems.

Central to this capability is HuginCore, Volvo’s internally developed core system. Featuring a sophisticated electrical architecture, a central computing platform, zone controllers and integrated software, HuginCore is the foundation of the company’s three software-centric models: the EX90, ES90 and EX60. This architecture enables scalable enhancements, faster innovation cycles and superior experiences across the entire vehicle lineup.

S&P Global Mobility, a premier provider of automotive intelligence, offers the comprehensive data and expert analysis that informed this evaluation, assisting the industry in making more informed, lower-risk decisions.

Håkan Samuelsson, CEO, Volvo Cars, said, “Years of focused engineering efforts and investments have given Volvo software capabilities that only a select few in the industry have achieved. This has enabled us to deliver a step change in customer experiences and development speed.”

Marelli And AWS Launch Ai-Driven System For Software-Defined Vehicle Validation

AWS - Marelli

Marelli has developed an AI-driven System Test Generation (STG) Agent in collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS). The tool automates the creation of system test cases from engineering requirements, addressing a traditionally labour-intensive phase of the automotive validation cycle.

The STG Agent was developed alongside the AWS Generative AI Innovation Center and utilises Amazon Nova foundation models, Amazon Bedrock Knowledge Bases and the Strands Agents framework.

The system is designed to integrate with existing requirement management tools and automotive engineering workflows. By automating the analysis of system requirements, the tool identifies expected behaviours and generates structured, traceable test cases to verify that product features align with customer specifications.

As vehicle platforms transition toward software-defined architectures, engineering teams must manage increasing volumes of data and specifications. The STG Agent aims to reduce validation time for new vehicle functionalities, improve consistency in product behaviour across global programmes and accelerate product development for vehicle manufacturers.

Daniele Russo, Head of System Performance Optimisation in Marelli’s Electronics Engineering team, said, “The STG Agent represents an important step forward in how we validate solutions for software-defined vehicles. By combining our engineering expertise with advanced AI capabilities from AWS, we significantly accelerate validation cycles and ensure consistent quality across global programs. This solution enables us to support our customers faster and more efficiently, strengthening the foundation for the next generation of software-defined vehicles.”

Giulia Gasparini, Country Leader of AWS Italia, commented, "Marelli's approach to automating system validation demonstrates the transformative potential of generative AI in automotive engineering. By leveraging Amazon Nova foundation models and Amazon Bedrock, companies are setting new standards for how software-defined vehicles are developed and validated. This solution shows how advanced AI can accelerate innovation while maintaining the rigorous quality and safety requirements that define the automotive industry."