Uber Technologies, Inc and Wayve’s partnership to bring autonomous rides to London has taken an important step forward after Transport for London (TfL) granted Private Hire Vehicle licences to a number of Wayve’s autonomous all-electric Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicles. The cars, which are equipped with the Wayve AI Driver and surround cameras and radar, were inspected to confirm that these vehicles meet all of TfL’s policy and safety standards.
The licensing of the vehicles completes the ‘triple-lock’ requirement for Private Hire trips, where the operator, driver and vehicle must all hold licences with the same licensing authority. Trips will take place under the Government’s AV Trialling Code of Practice and Uber’s TfL Private Hire Operator licence. Wayve’s vehicles are designed to operate autonomously, and will do the driving, with a trained and TfL licensed private hire driver onboard to oversee the trip and provide support or take over driving if needed.
The two companies report strong interest from Londoners in the chance to take a trip in an autonomous Wayve on Uber, with more than 100,000 Londoners signing up to join Uber’s Interest List in the last eight weeks alone, giving them a chance to be matched with a Wayve autonomous ride at launch. To help fine-tune the experience and inform the future of transport in London, later this summer, select riders who joined the Interest List will get access to Wayve rides to give feedback on the experience, as the companies prepare for the full public launch.
“This licence is an important step towards giving Londoners the chance to experience autonomous driving technology,” said Sarah Gates, VP global affairs & assurance, Wayve. “The responsible deployment of these vehicles will bring us safer, cleaner and quieter streets, and we’re proud to continue working alongside regulators, communities, and the public as we take the next steps towards making autonomous rides a reality in the capital.”
“This licence is a key milestone in bringing autonomous rides to London on Uber,” added Annie Duvnjak, Global Head of Autonomous Mobility Operations at Uber. “Our interest list has seen an incredible response from Londoners who are excited to experience Wayve’s British-built autonomous driving technology.”
Wayve says its AI-first approach, known as AV2.0, moves beyond the constraints of traditional AV systems that rely on HD maps, hand-coded rules, or geofenced domains. Instead, Wayve’s AI Driver learns from experience like a human driver, enabling it to adapt to new roads, vehicles, weather conditions, and cities with unprecedented speed and efficiency. Built and trained on UK roads, Wayve’s autonomous driving technology has been testing in London’s challenging roads since 2018, and has since demonstrated its adaptability across more than 500 cities worldwide.
Uber is focused on making electric, shared, and autonomous transportation a reality. With more than 30 AV partners and millions of autonomous trips completed each year, the company says it is building the industry’s first hybrid network – where autonomous vehicles and drivers work side by side to make transportation more affordable, sustainable, and accessible for all.