First in Munich: Uber wants to test fully driverless cars in Germany
From 2026, Uber wants to have autonomous cabs driving through Munich – initially as a test.
Uber wants to have autonomous cars driving through Munich from 2026 with the help of Momenta.
(Image: Uber/Momenta)
The ride-hailing company Uber and one of its robotaxi partners, Momenta, are planning to test fully driverless Level 4 cars in Germany next year. Level 4 autonomous vehicles can drive in certain zones and under certain conditions without human intervention.
Uber in Munich with Level 4
The collaboration, which was announced back in May, will integrate Momenta's AI-driven autonomous driving technology into Uber's global platform. The two companies want to offer “safe, scalable, and efficient autonomous driving services in Europe and beyond.”
For the European market, Germany will be the starting point for Uber's Level 4 program. The company has named Munich as the first city for this, although further cities, which the company has not yet revealed, are to follow. Uber writes in its announcement, “With its deep-rooted engineering tradition, world-class automotive ecosystem, and openness to innovation, Munich is in a unique position to bring autonomous mobility to European roads and is the ideal starting point for this initiative.”
“Germany has shaped the global automotive industry for more than a century, and now Munich will help shape the future with autonomous vehicles,” said Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber.
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Momenta is no stranger
Momenta is already a partner of German brands such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW. Both car manufacturers use the Chinese software company's ADAS technology in vehicles for the Chinese market.
In China, Momenta operates its fleet of autonomous cabs. The company emphasizes its data-driven “flywheel” approach, which involves a continuous process of learning from similar or identical actions and improving the algorithms based on this using real driving data. This should result in AI models that achieve more human-like driving behavior.
Things are happening in Europe
Europe is not yet as advanced as the USA and China when it comes to autonomous driving. However, it is becoming apparent that the market for so-called robotaxis will soon open up further. In addition to Uber and Momenta, the two companies Baidu and Lyft also want to introduce self-driving cabs in the UK and Germany in 2026. Volkswagen has also been testing autonomous vehicles in Germany for several years and recently announced that it will offer its robotaxi service in 2026, initially in Hamburg.
(afl)
