Photo Credit: Lyft Lyft and Baidu have started testing robotaxis in London with Freenow, marking the next step in a European autonomous-vehicle partnership first outlined last year. The vehicles are Baidu's Apollo Go RT6 robotaxis. For now, test drivers will be aboard. That detail matters. Early London activity is still testing, rather than a full commercial driverless service, and the companies are positioning the rollout around regulatory coordination before public rides begin. Baidu's Apollo Go RT6 vehicles will begin appearing in the UK capital while Lyft and Freenow handle passenger booking from next year. Freenow is the German taxi company Lyft now owns, and it gives the project an existing taxi and private-hire network to connect with as autonomous vehicles move toward service. Dozens of Baidu Apollo Go RT6 vehicles will operate in the Brent borough of London as part of the tests, the companies said in a press release. As a result, Londoners in that area will become the first to see the Baidu vehicles operating under the Lyft-Freenow partnership. The network is planned to operate alongside Freenow's established taxi and private-hire business. However, that does not make the service immediately open to the general public. The Baidu robotaxi service will be called Freenow by Lyft and expects to invite the public to reserve rides sometime in 2027. The timeline remains conditional. The exact schedule will depend on regulatory approval, with coordination involving Transport for London and the UK government. Meanwhile, the UK government is drafting autonomous-vehicle rules and has recently launched a robotaxi pilot program. Lyft uses Freenow as its European lever Lyft's Freenow acquisition now has a clear strategic role in the robotaxi plan. Lyft bought Freenow last year to accelerate its European autonomous-vehicle ambitions by using Freenow's large taxi network in the UK and Germany. Therefore,