Company car and van drivers in London could soon be sharing the road with driverless taxis, after Uber and Lyft confirmed plans to run self-driving trials in the capital this year.
Both firms are linking up (separately) with Baidu, the Chinese tech giant behind the Apollo Go robotaxi programme, with plans to use Apollo Go RT6 vehicles in London — subject to UK regulatory approvals.
Lyft’s CEO, David Risher, said London riders would be among the first in Europe to experience Baidu’s Apollo Go vehicles. The initial rollout is expected to start with dozens of cars and could scale to hundreds over time, depending on permissions.
Uber says testing is expected to begin in the first half of 2026, as part of the UK’s pilot approach for self-driving vehicles — again, dependent on the final sign-off needed to run fully driverless services on public roads.
This comes as the UK continues to put the right legal and safety framework in place for autonomous vehicles, clarifying how responsibility is handled when a vehicle is operating in self-driving mode.
And it’s not just Uber and Lyft. Waymo has already been spotted running supervised tests in London using Jaguar I-Pace vehicles, as it works towards a passenger service in the city.
Transport secretary Heidi Alexander has described the momentum behind these trials as a vote of confidence in the UK’s plans for self-driving technology — but the next steps will still rely on regulation, safety assurance, and a careful rollout in one of the world’s busiest and most complex city driving environments.
At Leasing Options, we’ve been keeping a close eye on the driverless vehicle story for more than five years, and it’s genuinely exciting to see the momentum building in the UK.
What once felt like a future concept is now moving towards real-world trials on London streets, with major names investing time, money and technology into making it work safely and responsibly.
We’ll be watching closely as the next steps unfold, because if autonomous vehicles do become part of everyday travel, they could reshape how people think about mobility, fleets and the future of driving.
