Uber and Pony.ai plan to begin testing the company’s seventh-generation robotaxis in London within weeks, the two companies announced Thursday, widening a partnership that already aims to deploy more than 2,000 robotaxis across Europe. The London tests will follow the model used in Zagreb, where Pony.ai supplies the autonomous driving system and the Arcfox Alpha T5 vehicle, developed with Chinese automaker BAIC, while a local operator owns the fleet and Uber provides the ride-hailing network. The companies have not said who will operate the London fleet, how many vehicles will be tested, or when a public service could start.
London’s robotaxi field is crowding fast. Uber already offers supervised autonomous rides there with British startup Wayve, Waymo has begun autonomous testing toward a fully driverless service, and Baidu’s Apollo Go is testing with Lyft’s Freenow ahead of public rides targeted for 2027. Fully driverless passenger services need approval through the Automated Passenger Services framework created by the Automated Vehicles Act 2024.