London welcomes new self-driving car trials as Chinese robotaxis hit the road - 'Defining milestone'

New self-driving vehicles have hit the road in the UK as part of a trial period that could see public riders taken around the capital from as early as next year.

Freenow by Lyft has partnered with Chinese commerce giant Baidu to start autonomous vehicle testing with its Apollo Go RT6 vehicles in London.

Initially, the vehicles will have safety operators and will operate solely in the borough of Brent, which blends urban and more residential areas.

Lyft first announced its partnership with Baidu in 2025 and unveiled plans to deploy autonomous vehicles across Europe, starting with Germany and the UK.

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Freenow and Lyft have emphasised safety commitments with Transport for London and the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles.

The vehicles are expected to operate as part of a hybrid network, meaning Freenow's established taxi and private hire vehicles will work alongside autonomous vehicles.

It stated that this would benefit riders with faster pickup times and a greater number of vehicles available on the platform.

Thomas Zimmermann, CEO of Freenow by Lyft, said: "As a platform with deep roots in the taxi industry, our priority is ensuring that autonomous technology supports the professional drivers who keep London moving.

"By integrating these purpose-built, autonomous vehicles from Baidu's Apollo Go into the Freenow by Lyft ecosystem, we will give Londoners more sustainable choices to travel, encouraging them to choose shared mobility services over personally owned vehicles."

Freenow by Lyft and Baidu's Apollo Go will continue trials of the autonomous vehicles before welcoming public riders in 2027.

Data shows strong interest in autonomous vehicles in London, even without the vast majority of people having little to no experience with them.

The research, conducted by Censuswide, found that 48 per cent of Londoners have never ridden in an autonomous vehicle.

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Despite this, 58 per cent said they would be likely to try the technology, while support is even stronger among young people in the capital.

Almost two-thirds of people under the age of 35 are in favour of autonomous vehicles being available in the capital, with 25 per cent citing the benefits of an additional transport option.

More than half (51 per cent) of survey respondents said the main reason for choosing an AV would be excitement about the technology.

Other reasons included the reliability of the service (43 per cent) and the chance to have quiet "me time" during the journey (41 per cent).

Nan Yang, Vice President of Baidu and General Manager of Overseas Business Unit, Intelligent Driving Group, said the launch of trials in London was a "defining milestone in our global expansion".

He continued, saying: "Testing our autonomous fleet in one of the world's most iconic and complex urban environments validates our technology's maturity and our commitment to this market.

"By combining our cutting-edge autonomous driving technology with Freenow by Lyft's local operational expertise, we are officially moving from vision to reality, together."

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