LONDON CALLING AVs
l Mobileye - powering the AV activities of MOIA in Germany and the US and with an existing partnership with Lyft in Dallas, Mobileye has yet to announce.
lWeRide - a rising player in the AV scene. WeRide operates commercial services and pilots in major Chinese cities and the UAE (with Uber), and has recently entered Europe with Shuttles in France and Switzerland, albeit both are not commercial ride-hailing. WeRide also has their own rider app and operations.
Which other ride-hailing players are there in London?
This is where it gets even more interesting.
l Bolt - the company has an AV programme, but has yet to announce any partnerships. Its market share in London is believed to be roughly 20%, so Bolt must deploy autonomous ride-hailing in London. The million pound question - with who?
l Gett - a small player in global terms but a sizable one in London, with millions of rides annually. Gett probably isn’t able to carry out large scale operations on its own, but it can be ‘bolted on’ to an existing AV partnership, as a way to increase demand. On the other hand, same as with FREENOW, it has to keep good relations with Black Cabs, which will obviously not like (British understatement) the new autonomous world order.
l Addison Lee - a local UK player, recently acquired by ComfortDelGro. The global ownership adds to Addison Lee’s appeal, but it share Gett challenges.
Who are other Global AV-tech players likely to deploy in London?
Partnering with an established demand generating player is better than setting up a new consumer brand. There are a few questions here: (1) who will Bolt partner with; (2) Would Addison Lee or Gett try to initiate small local operations as pilots?; and (3) will there be new AV players trying to go in with their own brand?
I don’t have all the answers, but let’s look at companies which we are likely to see in London, most likely as a result partnering with a local demand generating player:
PHTM SEPTEMBER 2025
l
Pony.ai - similar to WeRide, operates in China and the UAE, and recently launched in luxembourg, for now on an initial pilot. A bit behind WeRide in terms of European expansion. Pony also has their own rider app and operations.
l Avride - the company is running tests in Austin and preparing deployment in Dallas with Uber, expected later this year. London will be a huge leap for the company.
l May Mobility has several pilots in the US and are planned to launch in Atlanta with Lyft very soon - but don’t expect them to be ready for large-scale London deployment.
l Oxa pivoted into logistics; it still runs Ford vans and shuttles in the US, but it is far behind the AV tech- readiness race.
l Motional - controlled by Hyundai. The company is active in Pittsburgh, Las Vegas and Singapore. I don’t expect Hyundai to go all-in in London.
Let’s stop here - with one more company to mention:
l Tesla - big question over the tech-readiness of Tesla, which was blocked from operating FSD in the UK, taking criticism from regulators. We’re still a year away, which gives Tesla time (but probably not enough time) to prove a safe US operation. Possible, but highly unlikely. If operating in London, Tesla will generate its own demand.
The following months are critical in terms of partnerships, eyes turn to Bolt. I expect to see at least four different autonomous ride-hailing services come summer of 2026 - exciting times.
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