Uber Technologies Inc and UK startup Wayve Technologies Ltd received permits to launch their robotaxi service in London with a safety driver, getting out ahead of Waymo and Baidu Inc’s planned rollouts.
London’s transport authority issued private hire vehicle licenses that allow Wayve’s autonomous cars to carry passengers, the companies said in a statement on August 5.
Under the authorisation, the vehicles will still have a supervisor aboard each ride, with their hands off the wheel unless they need to intervene. Wayve can launch as many as 15 such vehicles on a trial basis, for a period of one year, according to a government spokesperson at Transport for London.
A different kind of license that allows for unmanned operations would require further regulatory approvals.
Riders who expressed interest by signing up will be able to try the service this summer ahead of a full rollout, according to the statement. It’s the first time regular passengers in London will have access to self-driving cabs.
Rideshare companies are vying to offer driverless cab services globally, sometimes striking partnerships with technological rivals to get robotaxis onto the streets. Uber, Alphabet Inc’s Waymo and China’s Baidu are all racing to launch services in London.
In the US, Uber and Waymo have exclusively partnered to offer robotaxi services in certain cities, a tie-up that will end in 2028 as the two increasingly compete internationally. Their souring relationship has raised concerns among some investors about Uber’s future, as they view Waymo – the leading robotaxi provider in the US – as a crucial partner for Uber’s ambition to become the go-to aggregator for these cars.
Uber has disclosed plans to offer autonomous rides in more than 10 cities globally with other robotaxi partners by the end of the year, including Wayve and Nuro.
Waymo is currently testing its robotaxis on the streets of London and plans to offer them without a human behind the wheel this year. China’s Baidu began testing its Apollo Go robotaxis last week and expects a public rollout in 2027 through the Freenow taxi app, which was acquired by Lyft Inc last year.
Wayve will offer rides in London in electric Ford Mustang Mach-E SUVs equipped with cameras, radar sensors and self-driving software, chief executive officer Alex Kendall said in an interview last month. The company plans to eventually offer a fully driverless experience in vehicles manufactured by Nissan Motor Co once it clears the necessary regulatory validations, its CEO said. – Bloomberg
