百度 Apollo Go 与 Lyft 旗下 Freenow 在伦敦启动自动驾驶打车路测

Baidu (BIDU) Tuesday said that its autonomous ride-hailing platform, Apollo Go, has begun road testing in London with Freenow by Lyft (LYFT).
Testing will begin in the borough of Brent with safety operators on board, covering a mix of urban and suburban driving environments. Apollo Go and Freenow by Lyft plan to welcome public riders starting in 2027, subject to regulatory approvals, the companies said.
The deployment builds on the strategic partnership reported by Baidu and Lyft in 2025 for Lyft to deploy Apollo Go autonomous vehicles across key European markets through the Lyft platform.
Under the partnership, Apollo Go provides the RT6 vehicles and autonomous driving technology, while Freenow by Lyft contributes its local operational expertise to ensure smooth testing and operation of the fleet.
The London program builds on Apollo Go's testing experience in Hong Kong, its first right-hand-drive market. Apollo Go received the first fully driverless trial permit from Hong Kong's Transport department on July 23, with testing beginning on Airport Island on July 27.
Commercial robotaxi fleets in Europe are beginning to move from pilot projects to commercial operations, with the market developing through partnerships between autonomous driving technology providers, ride-hailing platforms, and vehicle manufacturers rather than vertically integrated fleet owners.
Key publicly listed beneficiaries include Uber Technologies (UBER) as the customer-facing mobility platform, Pony.ai (PONY) and WeRide (WRD) as autonomous driving technology providers, Stellantis (STLA) and Renault (RNSDF) as vehicle partners, and Alphabet (GOOGL) and Baidu (BIDU), whose Waymo and Apollo Go businesses are pursuing European expansion opportunities. Meanwhile, EV giant Tesla (TSLA) has not launched a commercial European service and plans to expand its robotaxi service beyond the U.S. over time.