Just an hour after it started carrying passengers for the first time, a self-driving e-ATAK bus made by Turkey's Karsan (KARSN) was hit from behind by a tram in Gothenburg, Sweden, on May 25, the city’s public transport organiser said.
e-ATAK is the first full length autonomous bus in the world.
"The bus braked and was hit by the tram," Patrik Chi, a spokesperson at Vasttrafik, a company owned by the regional public transport authority, was quoted as saying by Reuters. He was also reported as saying that there was a safety driver on the vehicle, ready to take control if necessary, and that an investigation into the incident was under way.
The collision reportedly caused no injuries.
However, the bumpy ride may raise questions over the integration of autonomous vehicles in urban traffic.
Gothenburg is running a one-year trial of autonomous public transport using Karsan's e-ATAK bus.
Reuters said footage on public broadcaster SVT's website showed the damage to the bus, as well as a banner on its rear reading: "Keep distance! The bus may brake sharply."
In August last year, IntelliNews reported on how Karsan (KARSN) delivered an e-ATAK model autonomous electric bus to the city of Arbon in Switzerland.
The bus was recorded as the first autonomous Karsan vehicle provided to the Swiss market and was set to become the first autonomous bus to operate in Switzerland.
e-ATAK is already in service in the US, Norway, the Netherlands and Finland.
In January 2025, Karsan signed a €15.5mn contract, excluding value added tax (VAT), with ACaMIR, the operator of transportation services in Italy’s Campania region, to provide a total of 42 e-ATAK buses. The deliveries were to be made within 2025.
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