Uber and Wayve’s partnership to bring autonomous rides to London has moved 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 licences complete the “triple-lock” requirement for private hire trips, under which operator, driver and vehicle must all hold licences with the same authority.

The vehicles, fitted with the Wayve AI Driver, surround cameras and radar, will operate under the Government’s AV Trialling Code of Practice and Uber’s TfL operator licence, with a trained, TfL-licensed driver onboard to oversee each trip. More than 100,000 Londoners have signed up to Uber’s Interest List in the past eight weeks, with select riders getting early access this summer ahead of full launch.

Wayve’s AI-first approach, known as AV2.0, moves beyond traditional AV systems reliant on HD maps or geofenced domains, learning instead from experience to adapt to new roads. Trained on UK roads since 2018, the technology has been tested across more than 500 cities worldwide, while Uber says it now works with more than 30 AV partners as part of a hybrid network of vehicles and drivers.

In a statement, Sarah Gates, Vice President, Global Affairs & Assurance at Wayve, said: “This licence is an important step towards giving Londoners the chance to experience autonomous driving technology.” Annie Duvnjak of Uber added that the interest list had seen an incredible response from Londoners.

Source: Wayve