Together with Baidu
Lyft aims to introduce self-driving cars in Europe from next year, starting with Germany and the United Kingdom. The American taxi service is partnering with the Chinese tech company Baidu for this. The two parties announced this on Monday.
The planned launch in 2026 in the two European countries is still subject to approval by regulators. Within a few years, the fleet of Baidu’s robotaxis should grow to “thousands of vehicles” throughout Europe, the companies state.
The announcement follows the news that Lyft is taking over one of Europe’s largest taxi apps, Freenow. This marks the company’s entry into nine new countries in the region. It is the company’s first expansion outside North America.
Competitor Uber announced in May that it also has plans to offer self-driving taxis on its platform in Europe.