September 3, 2026 - Uber Launches Wayve Robotaxis in London

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for September 3, 2026, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry. 

Another city is getting its first public robotaxi service today as Uber begins providing rides in London, England. Uber is partnering with UK-based Wayve, one of the numerous automated driving system developers it has invested in. While Waymo and Baidu are both actively testing their robotaxis in the British capital, Uber and Wayve are the first to get a permit allowing them to pick up paying riders. The Wayve vehicles are Ford Mustang Mach-Es equipped with the Wayve AI Driver that uses Nvidia compute and a suite of surround cameras and radar, but no lidar. I've previously ridden in one of Wayve's development vehicles in Sunnyvale, California, and it performed quite well in a variety of urban and suburban driving scenarios, including after sunset. 

For this initial launch, Uber and Wayve have only received a permit to operate 15 vehicles, which means it will be challenging for riders to actually get into one of the Mach-Es. This initial stage of permitting also requires a safety operator to be on board to take over if necessary. Uber and Wayve had hoped to launch fully driverless services this year, but that requires a separate permitting process through the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, and it now appears that won't happen before the end of 2026. 

In order to potentially get a ride in a Wayve-equipped car, riders will have to opt in through the Uber app and then select an UberX, Uber Electric, or Uber Comfort ride. With over 100,000 taxis and ride-hail vehicles operating in London and over 140,000 people already opted in with Uber, the chances of getting a ride in one of these vehicles will be slim for the foreseeable future. However, by 2027, it should start getting easier if Wayve and Uber get permission to expand and Waymo and Baidu also get permits. 

In addition to its robotaxi partnership with Uber, Wayve also has deals to support partially automated driving systems with both Nissan and Stellantis, with the first Nissan systems projected to launch in 2027.

Thanks for listening.