Google’s Robotaxis arrive in Europe
This page is translated from the original post "Les Robotaxis de Google arrivent en Europe" in French.
- 16/10/2025 9:16
The first commercial trials will begin in London before a gradual expansion to other capitals, including Paris.
Google’s driverless taxis, operated by its subsidiary Waymo, are about to reach a historic milestone: their debut in Europe. The American company has just announced the upcoming launch of its autonomous transport service in London, the first city on the continent to host its fully automated vehicles. According to Waymo, the first paid trips are expected to start in 2026, after a preparatory phase planned from this fall.
In collaboration with Moove, its local operational partner, Waymo is currently finalizing the necessary procedures with UK authorities to obtain commercial traffic permits. The European fleet will consist of Jaguar I-PACE electric vehicles specially equipped with the “Waymo Driver” autonomous driving system.
The United Kingdom, which already has an advanced regulatory framework for autonomous mobility, serves as a gateway for Google’s technology into Old Europe. London and Oxford host Waymo’s first European engineering centers, specializing in simulation and the development of autonomous driving software.
A service tested by Google in the USA
In the United States, Waymo claims to have traveled over 100 million kilometers without a driver on open roads and conducted more than ten million paid trips in Phoenix, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. The company reports encouraging data: its vehicles were involved in five times fewer accidents with injuries than human drivers, and twelve times fewer accidents involving pedestrians.
UK authorities welcome this arrival, seeing it as an opportunity to enhance road safety and transport accessibility, especially for people with disabilities.
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For the rest of Europe, this rollout marks a turning point. It is only a matter of months, or even weeks, before France and other countries can host their first public tests of autonomous taxis. A new era of urban mobility is in the making… without steering wheels, but under close surveillance.
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