Uber, Nuro and Lucid have named Houston as the second market for their autonomous robotaxi programme, with service due to launch in mid-2027 exclusively through the Uber platform. The San Francisco Bay Area launches first, later this year, with expansion planned to dozens of markets globally.

Nuro is conducting Level 4 on-road testing with safety operators in Houston around the clock, combining simulation, closed-course testing and supervised public road testing. The engineering fleet totals nearly 100 vehicles across California and Texas.

Uber has secured a 50,000-square-foot depot facility and a dedicated charging pitstop in Houston to support fleet management, charging, maintenance and cleaning operations for the programme. Nuro has maintained a presence in Houston since 2019 and has conducted Level 4 autonomous operations on the city’s public roads.

The service will use the Lucid Gravity, equipped with Nuro Driver, the company’s Level 4 autonomous platform, and a sensor suite comprising cameras, LiDAR, radar and a roof-mounted halo. The programme calls for a minimum of 35,000 vehicles globally across dozens of markets over the coming years.

In a statement, Sarfraz Maredia, Global Head of Autonomous Mobility and Delivery at Uber, said: “Houston marks an important next step in our partnership with Lucid and Nuro as we expand autonomous mobility to more riders throughout the world. Together, we’re combining best-in-class vehicle and autonomy technology with Uber’s scale, fleet operations expertise, and infrastructure capabilities to build a service that can grow across dozens of markets in the years ahead.”

Why this matters:

• Uber is building the default distribution layer for global autonomy.With more than a dozen AV technology and vehicle partners now operating under its platform umbrella—spanning Waymo, WeRide, Wayve, Nuro, Motional, Avride, Rivian, and others—Uber is less a ride-hailing company diversifying into autonomy than a platform consolidating the commercial deployment layer that most AV developers cannot build themselves.
• Lucid’s involvement reframes its commercial position.A premium EV manufacturer with a relatively modest consumer sales base securing a minimum 35,000-vehicle robotaxi commitment provides a volume pathway that its retail business has not yet delivered—and may prove as significant to Lucid’s long-term viability as any passenger car launch.