Uber launches ‘autonomous’ cabs in London

Uber begins offering "autonomous" taxis in London, marking the first such deployment of automated driving technology in Britain. The ride-hailing company, based in San Francisco, announced it will allow users to book these cars via its app from Thursday, in partnership with British AI start-up Wayve. Sarfraz Maredia, Uber's global head of autonomous mobility, emphasized London's role as a transportation innovation hub and the significance of this launch in scaling safe, accessible autonomous vehicle (AV) technology in a city with intricate roads.

The new taxis will be supervised by human drivers as part of a phased introduction of fully driverless taxis. Uber and Wayve announced their partnership two years ago, vying against Google-owned Waymo to be the first to launch driverless cars in Britain. Transport for London granted Wayve private hire vehicle licences last month, with their fleet consisting of all-electric Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicles.

The capital's winding roads and complex traffic rules were considered a challenging environment for driverless car firms, particularly compared to US cities like Atlanta and Austin. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander and Wayve co-founder Alex Kendall praised the launch as a major milestone and a British success story, highlighting the potential of Wayve's technology to complement London's transportation network.

Customers will be able to rate Wayve's driverless vehicles out of five, similar to the current Uber driver rating system, but tipping will not be required. Pricing will remain consistent with UberX, Uber Comfort, or Uber Electric options. A touchscreen display in 64 languages will provide maps during the ride. The companies plan to partner with Nissan to introduce driverless vehicles to Tokyo later this year.