May Mobility and NTT Mobility plan first public autonomous e-Palette rides in Japan

May Mobility and NTT Mobility plan to put Toyota e-Palette vehicles with May Mobility’s autonomous driving system on Japan’s public roads this year, marking the first public road operation in the country using an autonomous e-Palette. The companies say the rollout is aimed at building toward Level 4 driverless certification and expanding service to more sites in 2026 and 2027.

Why it matters: - May Mobility and NTT Mobility are aiming to put driverless-capable public transportation closer to commercial use in Japan. - The deployment is designed to address rider accessibility needs, bus route cuts and driver shortages in regions across the country. - The companies are using Toyota’s e-Palette as a testbed for Level 4 certification, which would allow driverless operations in Japan.

What happened: - May Mobility and NTT Mobility said they plan to deploy Toyota e-Palette vehicles on public streets in Japan this year. - The rollout would be the first public road operation in Japan using an autonomous e-Palette. - The e-Palette vehicles will use May Mobility’s autonomous driving system and join NTT Mobility’s autonomous fleet in Japan. - May Mobility has already run autonomous driving services and demonstrations in nine Japanese cities, including Tokyo, Nagoya and Hiroshima.

The details: - Toyota and May Mobility debuted an e-Palette prototype with May Mobility’s vehicle technology in 2024 at Toyota Motor Kyushu’s Miyata factory in Fukuoka. - That private-campus pilot moved employees and guests around the site. - From March 2025 to March 2026, NTT ran autonomous driving demonstrations with e-Palettes powered by May Mobility’s system at the NTT Central Training Center in Chofu City, Tokyo. - May Mobility’s autonomous driving system builds a dynamic world model from physics, traffic rules and local driving culture. - The system evaluates hundreds of what-if scenarios every 200 milliseconds. - A multi-policy reasoning engine then selects from deep-learned and rules-based strategies and rejects options it deems unsafe. - Toyota launched the e-Palette in late 2025 as a battery-electric vehicle for mobility-as-a-service use cases. - The vehicle is designed to carry up to seven passengers and accommodate wheelchair users. - Toyota also designed the e-Palette to integrate with autonomous vehicle technology and include redundant systems for safety and reliability. - NTT Mobility plans to begin public road demonstration tests at its Co-Creation Hub in the near future. - The companies also plan public e-Palette deployments at multiple sites in 2026, with additional sites planned for 2027. - The fleets will spend year-round time driving in commercial districts and residential streets with heavy car, pedestrian and cyclist traffic. - The companies want those deployments to show the operational readiness needed for Japan’s Level 4 certification program. - NTT Mobility launched its NTT Mobility Operation Assist platform on July 8, 2026, to support safe and streamlined Level 4 operations. - The platform combines real-world public road testing, scalable remote monitoring and mission-critical communication. - NTT says the Co-Creation Hub and Operation Assist platform can give local governments and transit operators an end-to-end tool to address driver shortages and keep regional transportation running. - May Mobility and NTT Mobility plan to expand the e-Palette fleet in fiscal 2027. - The broader rollout is meant to help regions facing bus route closures and worsening driver shortages. - Adding e-Palette models with May Mobility’s ADS is intended to give the companies more vehicle sizes for different markets across Japan.

Between the lines: - The partnership appears to be moving from controlled demonstrations to public-road service, a key step toward commercial autonomy. - The mix of vehicle deployment, remote monitoring and communication tools suggests the companies are building not just a vehicle program but an operating model for scaled service. - The focus on commercial districts, residential streets and regional transportation points to a use case broader than a single-city pilot.

What's next: - May Mobility and NTT Mobility plan to start public road demonstration tests soon at the Co-Creation Hub. - Multiple public-site deployments are planned for 2026, followed by additional expansion in 2027. - The companies are working toward Level 4 driverless autonomy and a broader nationwide rollout. - May Mobility CEO and founder Dr. Edwin Olson said the next phase will include more communities, larger deployments and the first autonomous e-Palette on Japan’s public roads.

The bottom line: - May Mobility and NTT Mobility are trying to turn Japan’s autonomous driving demonstrations into a public, scalable mobility service built around Toyota’s e-Palette.