Uber and partner Momenta will start testing robotaxis in Europe next year
Uber and its new partner Momenta will start testing an autonomous ride-sharing service in Europe in 2026, Momenta announced. The service will kick off in Munich, Germany using Momenta's self-driving tech and Uber's ride-sharing platform, with the goal of future European expansion. The companies chose Munich to kick off the operation due to the city's "deep-rooted engineering heritage, top-tier automotive ecosystem and openness to innovation," Momenta said.
Momenta and Uber announced a "strategic agreement" in May this year to launch a robotaxi service with safety drivers aboard to start with. Momenta was one of China's first autonomous vehicle companies and has been testing self-driving cars in the nation since 2018, with plans to roll out a commercial operation at its base in Shanghai next year. It also builds ADAS (advanced driver assistance systems) for major automakers including Mercedes-Benz and Audi, with over 400,000 installed to date.
Europe has been slower than the US and China to adopt self-driving taxis, but that has started to change. Uber will be competing with Baidu, which announced plans to start testing its Apollo Go self-driving service in Switzerland as early as this year. Another company, WeRide, launched its own pilot program in Switzerland in January 2025 and started testing a driverless shuttle system in France shortly after that.
Elsewhere, Uber has partnered with other self-driving vehicle companies including WeRide, Pony.AI and Momenta in the Middle East. It also has a deal with UK-based Wayve to launch self-driving ride sharing trials in London next year, and recently said it would offer ride-sharing services in Los Angeles using an autonomous version of Volkswagen's ID. Buzz.
Uber and Momenta's Munich service will use Level 4 self-driving vehicles that can be operated without a safety driver in preset geographical areas. The companies will need to obtain certification from the German government and approval for the "geofenced zones" where it's allowed to operate.
Uber originally planned to build its own self-driving cars but abandoned the idea in 2020 following the death of a pedestrian and scandal around alleged trade secret theft from Waymo. Since then, it has taken the route of partnering with autonomous vehicle manufacturers, including the aforementioned Waymo in Austin and Atlanta. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/uber-and-partner-momenta-will-start-testing-robotaxis-in-europe-next-year-123058509.html?src=rss