What it's like to ride in Uber's new self-driving taxis in London

Londoners can now experience the UK’s first robotaxi service as Uber officially launches its fleet of self-driving minicabs in the city. The launch includes 15 autonomous vehicles authorized to operate across London; however, each car is accompanied by a human safety driver ready to intervene if necessary. Despite some reported malfunctions in driverless vehicles in US cities where similar services are available, Uber’s research indicates strong interest among London users, with over 100,000 app customers expressing willingness to opt for a self-driving taxi if given the choice.

The current ride pricing for these autonomous taxis matches that of standard UberX, Uber Electric, or Uber Comfort trips, with fares displayed upfront in the app. Notably, the option to take a self-driving car only becomes visible to riders after booking a trip and when an autonomous vehicle is nearby. Sarfraz Maredia, Uber’s global head of autonomous mobility and delivery, shared the company’s gradual approach to introducing these vehicles, highlighting that human drivers will continue to operate on the platform for some time. “We always want consumers to be able to request a human ride or an autonomous vehicle, and because the market’s growing, we expect that there will be human drivers on Uber London for a long time to come,” he affirmed.

The autonomous fleet consists of electric Ford Mustang vehicles equipped with driverless technology from the UK-based firm Wayve. Unlike pre-programmed systems, Wayve’s AI processes real-time data collected from a series of sensors arranged on the vehicle to make driving decisions dynamically. Competition in the UK autonomous vehicle market is intensifying, with companies such as Google’s Waymo and Chinese tech giant Baidu also preparing to launch services. Alex Kendall, Wayve’s CEO, described the challenge as “the space race for our generation,” acknowledging the complexity involved in adapting this technology for a bustling environment like London. He added, “What we’ve done over time is pioneer a completely new approach to autonomous driving, making it possible to bring this to a busy and complex city like London and scale it globally.”

Having personally taken a ride in one of Uber’s robotaxis, I was briefed by the safety driver before navigating the busy streets of central London. The journey was mostly uneventful, passing scenes including a Brexit demonstration and negotiating traffic lights and roadworks. The car even responded appropriately when a cyclist motioned for it to proceed at a mini roundabout. However, the safety driver did intervene momentarily when a van’s rear doors opened suddenly on a narrow side street, causing the car to brake sharply. Although Wayve stated the driver’s involvement was more precautionary and expressed confidence in their AI’s capability, this brief episode underscored the cautious pace regulators are taking despite industry enthusiasm

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