Uber, WeRide and Avomo have obtained from the DGT the first authorisation from the European Union to operate level 4 autonomous vehicles in Madrid. A fleet of around twenty units will start mapping the streets before the end of 2026.
Uber, WeRide and Avomo have received from the DGT the first national authorisation granted in the European Union to operate level 4 autonomous vehicles. The permit is part of the ES-AV regulatory framework that the Spanish agency has developed for this type of technology, according to informacionlogistica.com.
The agreement stipulates that around twenty units of the WeRide GXR, a five-seater autonomous vehicle based on the Farizon SV from the Geely group, will begin to traverse the streets of Madrid for mapping tasks before the end of 2026. The plan is to initiate a commercial service with passengers by the end of the year, still with a safety specialist on board.
Uber does not develop its own autonomous driving technology: it acts as a platform that connects passengers with various developers. Its partnerships include Waymo, Wayve, Zoox, Nuro, and WeRide itself. The maintenance of the Madrid fleet will be handled by Avomo, the autonomous vehicle division of the Moove Cars group, which already collaborates with Uber in cities like Atlanta and Austin.
The Community of Madrid is rapidly establishing itself as one of the most advanced environments in Europe for the development of this technology," said Sarfraz Maredia, global head of Autonomous Mobility and Deliveries at Uber.
For her part, Jennifer Li, international head of WeRide, has described the Spanish capital as a key gateway for the Chinese company’s European expansion.
Madrid is the fourth city in the global plan that Uber and WeRide announced in September 2024, following Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Riyadh. The declared goal of both companies is to reach 15 cities by 2030 with tens of thousands of autonomous vehicles deployed worldwide.
The operation without any safety occupant at the wheel will not arrive until 2027, provided that the test results are positive and the operational milestones set by the DGT are met.
The closest European precedent is Zagreb, which in May 2026 became the first city in the European Union with a commercial robotaxi open to the public, also supervised, using technology from Pony.ai. London launched its first robotaxi service that same month in partnership with Uber and Wayve, also with a safety driver. The difference in the Madrid case is that it is the first national authorisation for a level 4 vehicle.
The capital backing this race includes the 1.2 billion dollars raised by Wayve in February 2026, the 750 million from Waabi's Series C round plus another 250 million contributed by Uber, and Uber's own commitment of over 10 billion dollars in partnerships with autonomous driving developers.
The first vehicles will circulate through Madrid before the end of the year for mapping tasks, without passengers. The commercial service with users, with a safety specialist on board, is expected by the end of 2026.
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