Baidu Apollo Go’s London road testing marks the latest front in a fast-moving contest to put autonomous taxis on European streets, with the Chinese technology company and its partners Freenow by Lyft beginning vehicle trials in the borough of Brent on 28 July 2026. The fleet, operating with human safety operators for now, covers a mix of urban and suburban driving environments as the companies work towards a public launch they have pencilled in for 2027, subject to regulatory approval.
The partnership behind the London trial was announced on 4 August 2025, when Baidu’s Co-founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Robin Li described the Europe deployment as ‘a significant milestone in our global journey.’ Under the arrangement, Apollo Go supplies the RT6 vehicles and the autonomous driving technology, while Freenow by Lyft contributes local operational expertise. The RT6 is fitted with Baidu Apollo Go’s own sensor suite and a 10-layer safety redundancy architecture, with initial deployments planned for Germany and the United Kingdom in 2026 before the fleet scales to thousands of vehicles across Europe.
The vehicle testing comes after Lyft completed its acquisition of Freenow, the German multi-mobility app formerly owned by BMW Group and Mercedes-Benz Mobility. Lyft’s 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) puts the purchase price at approximately €175 million, subject to closing adjustments, with completion expected in the second half of 2025. The snippet reported the figure as about $197 million; the SEC filing in euros is the primary document and takes precedence. Either way, the deal bought Lyft something it had conspicuously lacked: a direct presence in Europe.
What Freenow Brought to the Table
Freenow is not a small foothold. Reuters reported that the acquisition nearly doubles Lyft’s addressable market to more than 300 billion personal vehicle trips per year, up from roughly 161 billion, and opens access to London, Frankfurt, Paris, and Milan among other cities. The app operates across nine countries and 180 European cities, and the combined business serves over 50 million annual users, according to CNBC.
Freenow also arrived profitable on an adjusted basis. The app generated gross bookings of over €1 billion in 2024 and was adjusted EBITDA positive at the time of the acquisition announcement, according to Lyft’s investor presentation. That financial base matters for a robotaxi rollout: deploying autonomous fleets requires sustained operational presence in each city, not just a licensing agreement.
Thomas Zimmermann, Chief Executive of Freenow by Lyft, was clear about how the two revenue streams are meant to coexist. ‘As a platform with deep roots in the taxi industry, our priority is ensuring that autonomous technology supports the professional drivers who keep London moving,’ he said. The service will operate as a hybrid network, with human-driven taxis and private-hire vehicles working alongside robotaxis on the same platform.
Baidu Apollo Go London Tests Into a Crowded Field
London is not short of autonomous vehicle ambitions. Waymo began testing its vehicles with human safety operators in the city in April, several months ahead of the Apollo Go trial. Uber and its self-driving technology partner Wayve have announced plans for a robotaxi service this year, with customers already able to join an interest list; that service will also begin with safety operators before moving to fully driverless operations.
The regulatory backdrop is evolving quickly. The UK’s Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV), part of the Department for Transport, opened applications in May for companies wanting to join a self-driving vehicles pilot scheme. A government press release from June 2025 projected that from 2026 self-driving cars without a safety driver could be bookable via an app for the first time, with the pilots projected to put 38,000 jobs on the horizon. Baidu and Freenow by Lyft said they are in ongoing discussions with Transport for London (TfL) and the CCAV.
Until those discussions produce a green light, the Brent trial remains exactly what its name suggests: a test. Dozens of vehicles, all staffed, all confined to one borough. The 2027 public launch date gives the partners roughly eighteen months to satisfy regulators, scale the fleet, and persuade Londoners that hailing a driverless cab is as straightforward as ordering any other ride. Whether they get there ahead of Waymo and Uber/Wayve is the race that now defines the European robotaxi market.
