Madrid is preparing to have robotaxis this fall. The problem is that almost no one is clear how it is going to work.

Madrid is about to become the first capital of the European Union with driverless cars circulating through its streets. Uber, Waymo, Cabify and several Chinese technology companies are already fighting for a million-dollar business that, according to current plans, should begin rolling out after the summer. Although there are still quite a few questions unresolved.

What is happening. Uber was the first to announce the movement. In June confirmed an alliance with the Chinese technology company WeRide to operate in Madrid sensorized electric vans manufactured by Geely, the Chinese giant that also owns Volvo Cars or Polestar. To make it possible, Uber relies on two partners: Moove Cars, which provides the VTC licenses (of which Uber itself owns 30%), and Avomo, which is responsible for the maintenance and supervision of the vehicles and which already manages similar fleets in Austin and Atlanta.

The legal framework. To launch a service of this type, three pieces were needed: regulation, licenses and fleet. According to share From El Confidencial, the first two were “the most conflictive” and had already been resolved, so now “it is the companies that have to take the step.” So, on the one hand, the DGT is in charge of homologating and technically certifying vehicles, while the Community of Madrid manages authorizations, insurance and the distribution of licenses between operators, based on changes in the regional Mobility Law.

To avoid new conflicts with taxis, the regional government has chosen not to issue new VTC licenses, but rather to reuse existing ones with a limit of 100, to which a specific permit called “additional authorization for autonomous transport” will be added. According to El Confidencial sources, they point because the first pilots could start in central Madrid, Leganés and Móstoles, with Alcobendas also on the table.

The Waymo mystery. Alphabet subsidiary has registered In just two weeks new companies in Paris, Amsterdam and Madrid (Waymo Iberia), adding to the one it already had in Munich since June. The name chosen for Spain, “Iberia” and not “España”, suggests that the company is also looking at Portugal, which has recently opened a legal framework favorable to autonomous driving tests.

Even so, the commercial registration is only the first step, so it does not give us clues about a possible launch date, since to operate in Spain Waymo needs VTC licenses. Of the country’s three large fleets (Moove Cars, Auro and Vecttor), the first is already committed to Uber and WeRide, and Auro has confirmed that it is not negotiating with Waymo because it is focused on its expansion in Germany. This leaves as the only plausible way an agreement with Vecttor, the fleet owned by Cabify, which acknowledges maintaining “open conversations with the leading companies in autonomous mobility technology”, although it clarifies that, for the moment, “we do not have any closed alliance.”

The Phoenix precedent, where Waymo just broke their alliance with Uber to recover its cars and operate with its own app, suggests that its long-term plan is to dispense with intermediaries as soon as it gains its own brand in each market.

What Uber doesn’t count. The company announced in style that its robotaxis would arrive in Madrid before the end of the year, but for our part we did not receive a response from either Uber or WeRide about how many vehicles there will be in the first phase, whether the service will cover the entire city or just some neighborhoods, or whether any user will be able to order a car without anyone at the wheel.

On the other hand, the DGT itself confirmed us last month that there was no request from Uber or its partners to test autonomous vehicles. The organization remembers that there are three test phases: a controlled one (maximum three cars, always with a safety driver), an extensive one (up to ten, also with a driver) and a pre-deployment phase, where the vehicle limit disappears and the driver becomes optional, although always supervised remotely. Right now, the only company in that last phase in Spain is Tesla, which test your FSD system with 30 vehicles throughout the national territory.

The risks that Waymo already knows. Just like stand out From El Confidencial, the experience in the United States leaves two clear warnings. The first is vandalism, since in June, anti-ICE protesters burned five Waymo vehicles in Los Angeles, each valued between 150,000 and 200,000 euros, forcing the suspension of service in the city. The second, more serious for the business, are technical failures. And in just one month, Waymo had to first recall 3,800 cars for entering flooded roads and then 3,900 (97% of its fleet) for a software error that led them to sections of highway under construction.

Despite this, the company defends that its cars suffer 94% fewer serious or fatal accidents than those driven by humans, and 84% fewer accidents with cyclists or motorcyclists.

And now what. The calendar indicates that, starting in November, the first Uber robotaxis will begin to be seen in Madrid, with a safety driver at the wheel during the first months until the service becomes fully autonomous. The routes will be requested from each operator’s app and the cost is still unknown, but they are expected to be more expensive. Waymo is still a sea of ​​doubts, since it has a company created, but it still lacks a fleet partner to start. And at the bottom of the board we have Cabify and Bolt, who could be added later with vehicles from the Chinese companies Pony.ai or Baidu.

Cover image | Hoseung Han

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