Beijing-based Baidu has begun testing autonomous vehicles in London under a partnership with Lyft and Germany mobility app Freenow, which Lyft bought last year.
Baidu is the latest company to begin robotaxi trials in the capital under a pilot programme scheme that launched this year, ahead of AV regulations expected in 2027.
The testing, which began on Tuesday with human safety operators, comes under a partnership that Lyft and Baidu struck nearly a year ago to deploy Baidu’s purpose-built Apollo Go RT6 vehicles in European markets, using Lyft’s app platform.
Baidu’s Apollo RT6 autonomous vehicle. Image credit: Baidu
London trials
