Robotaxis in London: What’s Really Driving Itself (and What Isn’t)

25 Oct

Written by BK

Greetings, Earthlings. London now has robotaxis. You can open the Uber app and, if you are lucky, be picked up by a car driven by artificial intelligence. That is real, and it is a first for the UK.

What you will not find yet is an empty driver's seat. Here is what has launched, what has not, and why the gap between the two is now mostly about regulation rather than technology.

The short version

Since 3 September 2026, Uber and British AI company Wayve have offered robotaxi rides in London.
Every car has a safety driver licensed by Transport for London (TfL) who can take over. There were fewer than 20 cars at launch, and airports are excluded.
Waymo, owned by Google's parent company Alphabet, has been testing around 100 cars in London and says it is aiming for a fully autonomous service by the end of 2026, subject to approval.
As of late summer, no company had a permit to run driverless passenger services in London. The government's spring 2026 target for pilots has passed, and the Department for Transport now talks about self-driving services from 2027.

What has actually launched

The cars are electric Ford Mustang Mach-Es fitted with Wayve's "AI Driver" and a ring of sensors. Wayve says its system learns to drive from experience, much like a person, and can adapt to new roads, weather and cities.

You do not need a special app. If you request an UberX, Uber Comfort or Uber Electric, you may be matched with a Wayve car at no extra cost. Turning on autonomous vehicle preferences in the app improves your chances, and you can decline a Wayve car before it arrives. The route is shown in the app and on an in-car screen in 64 languages.

TfL granted the cars private hire licences in August. More than 140,000 Londoners joined the waiting list, so with fewer than 20 cars on the road, most people will not be matched for a while.

Why there is still a human in the seat

Driverless passenger services in the UK come under the Automated Vehicles Act 2024. To carry passengers with no one behind the wheel, an operator needs an Automated Passenger Services (APS) permit, and getting one takes several steps:

The vehicle is assessed by the Vehicle Certification Agency.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) assesses the service and issues the permit.
For a taxi-like service in London, TfL must give its consent. It has six weeks to respond, and consent is treated as given if it does not.

According to reports in late August, no operator had completed the first step, the DVSA had issued no APS permits, and TfL had received no requests for consent. TfL had also not published guidance for operators. Its director of strategy told the London Assembly in July that TfL was not "in a rush" to do so.

In September, a transport minister said in a written parliamentary answer that there is "no requirement" for TfL to publish guidance. TfL's consent is still needed for taxi-like services, though, so the route to a driverless service in London still runs through TfL.

Who is next

Waymo

Waymo already runs fully driverless services in several US cities. In London it has been driving around 100 Jaguar I-Pace cars with safety drivers on board while it maps the city, with fleet partner Moove handling operations. Unlike Wayve, it plans to use its own app. Waymo says it is aiming for a fully autonomous service by the end of 2026, subject to approval, but it has not confirmed whether that will include paid public rides this year.

Wayve

Wayve's driverless version is planned on a Nissan Leaf and targeted for the 2027 financial year. Chief executive Alex Kendall has declined to give a timeline, saying the company wants to get through the regulatory process first.

Baidu

China's Baidu has been testing robotaxis in London with both Uber and Lyft, with public rides expected in 2027.

Is London a harder test than the US?

Yes. Narrow and irregular streets, heavy cycle and bus traffic, constant roadworks and dense pedestrian crossings make London one of the most complex driving environments in the world. That is part of why the supervised phase matters: it is how companies and regulators build London-specific evidence before anyone removes the human.

Signal vs hype: our reading

Signal: AI-driven cars carrying paying passengers on public roads in one of the hardest cities on Earth to drive in, with three major players lining up behind them.

Hype: "Driverless taxis are here." The human is still in the seat, the fleet is tiny, and the timeline depends on a permit process that had not issued a single permit by late summer.

What to watch next

The first APS permit issued by the DVSA. That will be the real starting gun.
TfL's consent decisions, and any operator guidance it publishes.
Whether Waymo hits its end-of-2026 target or slips into 2027.
Safety data from the supervised trials, including how often safety drivers have to take over.

Frequently asked questions

How can I ride in a robotaxi in London?

Request an UberX, Uber Comfort or Uber Electric in the Uber app and turn on autonomous vehicle preferences. The fleet is small, so a match is not guaranteed, and you can decline a Wayve car before it arrives.

Does a robotaxi ride cost more?

No. At launch, Uber and Wayve said riders matched with a Wayve car pay no extra.

Is there a driver in London robotaxis?

Yes. Every Wayve car currently has a TfL-licensed safety driver who can take control.

When will London get fully driverless taxis?

There is no confirmed date. Waymo is aiming for the end of 2026, subject to approval, while the government talks about self-driving services from 2027.

End of transmission. We will report back when the driver's seat is finally empty.

Sources

RobotaxisSelf-driving carsLondonSignal vs hype