Transport for London has granted Private Hire Vehicle licenses to a number of Wayve’s autonomous all-electric Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicles, clearing the last regulatory step before Uber can carry passengers in self-driving cars in the capital. Each vehicle, fitted with the Wayve AI Driver and a surround camera and radar sensor suite, was inspected against TfL’s policy and safety standards before licensing. In the past eight weeks alone, more than 100,000 Londoners have joined Uber’s Interest List for a chance to be matched with a Wayve autonomous ride at launch.
Highlights
- TfL granted Private Hire Vehicle licenses to a number of Wayve’s autonomous all-electric Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicles
- Licensing completes the “triple-lock” requirement — operator, driver, and vehicle all licensed by the same authority
- More than 100,000 Londoners signed up to Uber’s Interest List over an eight-week period
- Select Interest List riders get early trips later this summer, ahead of the full public launch
What Is the “Triple-Lock” Requirement?
London’s private hire framework requires that the operator, the driver, and the vehicle each hold a license from the same licensing authority. Uber holds a TfL Private Hire Operator license and the trips will use trained, TfL-licensed private hire drivers, so the vehicle licenses close the remaining gap. Trips will take place under the UK government’s AV Trialling Code of Practice.
Wayve says its vehicles are designed to operate autonomously and will do the driving, with the licensed private hire driver onboard to oversee the trip and provide support or take over if needed.
Early Riders Ahead of Public Launch
Later this summer, a selection of riders who joined the Interest List will get access to Wayve trips and provide feedback, as the two companies fine-tune the experience before the full public launch.
“This licence is an important step towards giving Londoners the chance to experience autonomous driving technology,” said Sarah Gates, VP Global Affairs & Assurance. “The responsible deployment of these vehicles will bring us safer, cleaner and quieter streets, and we’re proud to continue working alongside regulators, communities, and the public as we take the next steps towards making autonomous rides a reality in the capital.”
Annie Duvnjak, Global Head of Autonomous Mobility Operations at Uber, framed the approval as a milestone for the Wayve and Uber partnership in London. “This licence is a key milestone in bringing autonomous rides to London on Uber,” she said. “Our interest list has seen an incredible response from Londoners who are excited to experience Wayve’s British-built autonomous driving technology.”
The AV2.0 Approach Behind the Deployment
Wayve’s AI-first method, which the company calls AV2.0, is built to operate without the HD maps, hand-coded rules, or geofenced domains that conventional autonomous systems rely on. Instead, according to Wayve, the AI Driver learns from experience the way a human driver does, allowing it to adapt to new roads, vehicles, weather conditions, and cities.
The system was built and trained on UK roads, and the company says it has been testing on London streets since 2018 and has since demonstrated adaptability across more than 500 cities worldwide.
Where the London Trips Fit in Uber’s AV Strategy
Uber reports more than 30 AV partners and millions of autonomous trips completed each year. The company describes its model as a hybrid network in which autonomous vehicles and human drivers operate side by side.
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