According to Waymo, an automatic taxi service is planned to be introduced in Munich, Germany. The Alphabet company has established an entity on the ground, but the process of road mapping, testing and regulatory clearance still needs to be completed in the run-up to formal commercial operations.
Mapping and testing.
In accordance with Waymo's propulsion approach in other cities, the company will first collect road data from manual vehicles and complete street mapping. Auto-driving vehicles are then tested on the road with security officers before entering the security phase.
During this process, Waymo usually opens the test to staff, the media and invited passengers before gradually expanding the service. Once a commercial operating licence has been obtained, the service will go online on a limited scale and eventually be open to all passengers.
Target pointed at the end of 2027.
In a blog post, Waymo stated that he was working with KBA, Länder and local officials of the German Federal Motor Transport Administration to complete the required clearance. The company expects that the business call service for the public will be launched by the end of 2027.
Germany adopted relevant legislation more than five years ago and became the first EU country to establish a legal framework for L4-level automatic driving. As defined in SAE, L4 means that the system can perform all driving tasks under certain conditions and does not require humans to take over at any time.
Germany is already testing hot spots.
This legal environment promotes Germany as an important market for auto-driving tests. According to KBA ' s latest data, several companies, such as Mobileye, the public, have been licensed to test automatic driving vehicles in Germany.
However, Waymo has not yet obtained the relevant permit. Most of the existing approved projects are still L3, i.e., driven by the system under certain conditions, but the driver still needs to take over as necessary. British start-up companies Wayne, Israeli company Autobrains and others are also in this category.
In addition to Germany, the United Kingdom is becoming the focal point of the Robotaxi competition. Waymo had previously indicated that it planned to launch business services in London in 2026, at which time it would compete with Wayve and its partner Uber. In partnership with Lyft and Freenow, the autopilot test has also been launched in London.