Alongside UK and Germany, Serbia technologically ready for self-driving vehicles - expert

BELGRADE - By issuing the first licences for self-driving vehicles, Serbia has demonstrated it is technologically ready to join the UK and Germany as a European pioneer when it comes to autonomous cars, says the head of the Electric and Hybrid Vehicles Centre Milos Petrovic.

The Serbian Ministry of Interior last year issued trial licences for two self-driving vehicles, he said in a statement to Tanjug.

Serbia thus became only the fifth European country to allow trial operation and testing of Level 3 self-driving vehicles, Stefan Badza, adviser in the cabinet of the Serbian PM, told Tanjug.

"This suggests that companies that are developing self-driving vehicles and parts and systems for those vehicles see Serbia as a country of that level of development," he said.

Such development is the best guarantee Serbia is ready to head in the right direction and also ensure testing of Level 5 self-driving vehicles in the foreseeable future, Badza said.

Petrovic said he expected new legislation to boost the number of electric car chargers installed in Serbia to make environmentally friendly EVs even more popular in the country.

Speaking about non-autonomous electric cars, he said the average price of such a vehicle was around 30,000 euros, but noted that an electric Fiat Panda model - to be produced by Stellantis in Kragujevac, central Serbia, from 2024 - would be priced at 15,000-20,000 euros and that government subsidies ranging from 2,500 to 5,000 euros would reduce the cost further.