EVwire brief: Waymo announced London entry in 2026. What we have so far is that it’ll use its Jaguar I-Pace vehicles, which we’ll see start testing on the roads there soon.
This shows the UK government was serious about its announcement of allowing robotaxis to start operating in small numbers from 2026, then spend about a year studying the data, and then allow companies to launch wider in the second half of 2027.
It is also why we saw Uber and Wayve announce their launch plans for London in 2026 – and London is also the home turf for Wayve.
Wayve recently reported a potential $500M investment from NVIDIA and is reportedly in talks with Microsoft and SoftBank to raise up to $2B of new funding, at a potential $8B valuation.
For London, Waymo chose to partner with Moove for fleet maintenance and service, similarly to Phoenix and Miami. London is what you’d call a home turf for Moove (now called Avomo), as it launched in London in 2022 to finance and supply 10,000 EVs for Uber drivers. It now operates 36,000 vehicles in ride-hail services in 19 cities around the world.
Moove is also an interesting common part between Uber and Waymo, given that Uber is the largest outside investor in Moove with over 10% in equity. Moove is currently reportedly raising over $300M at a $2B valuation.
Waymo also recently launched its business service — Waymo for Business
Waymo launches “Waymo for Business,” allowing employers to offer discounted rides to employees. The new service will let businesses subsidize their employees’ rides or purchase promo codes in bulk, which can be handed out to clients, customers, or workers. The Waymo for Business rides will cost the same as its regular service.
One of Waymo’s first customers is Carvana, the Phoenix-based online used car marketplace.
Waymo has said nearly one in six of its local riders in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix rely on Waymo to commute to work or school.
Through the Waymo for Business service, companies have access to a business portal that gives the organizations control over their ride programs. Corporate customers can dictate the geographic area in which their employees use the robotaxis, set pickup and drop-off locations, monitor ride activity, and track their budget.
Source: Waymo (London); Waymo, TechCrunch (Business)
