London Robotaxi Testing Starts Soon for Uber and Pony.ai Gen-7 Vehicles
Uber and Pony.ai plan London robotaxi testing for Gen-7 vehicles in the coming weeks. No passenger launch date has been announced yet.
Uber and Pony.ai plan to start testing Pony.ai's Gen-7 robotaxis on London streets in the coming weeks, the companies said on Thursday, October 8, 2026. The London robotaxi testing sits inside an expanded partnership that aims to put driverless cars on European roads, with Pony.ai-powered vehicles already bookable on the Uber app in Zagreb.
The current timetable covers road testing only. Neither company has announced a date for a Pony.ai passenger service in London, so riders in the city cannot book these vehicles yet. Pony.ai founder James Peng is leading the Gen-7 effort into the British capital.
London robotaxi testing and the Zagreb template
Zagreb is the operating reference point. The service there gives Uber a live deployment to measure against, while London begins as a testing market. Uber's European plan targets more than 2,000 vehicles, and London is one of the cities within that build-out.
The sequencing also shows how the companies separate the two stages. Testing comes first, and the companies have said commercial services will follow testing. That leaves the timing of paid London rides open, which is the detail most relevant to fleet planners and city transport teams.
What the deal changes for Uber and Pony.ai
For Uber, the arrangement brings a Chinese self-driving system onto its ride-hailing platform in a European capital. For Pony.ai, the deal provides access to Uber's app and customer base without requiring the company to build that demand channel alone.
Readers tracking robotaxi commercialization should measure progress by bookable rides and vehicle counts, not by announcements. Zagreb already offers rides, London does not yet have a service date, and the 2,000-vehicle target gives a benchmark for judging how far the European rollout has moved.
Why this matters
The London robotaxi testing shows ride-hailing platforms assembling several autonomous suppliers rather than relying on a single developer. For Uber, it adds a Chinese self-driving stack to a major European market. For Pony.ai, the partnership turns road tests into a route to paying customers once commercial service begins.
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