Waymo to Launch Driverless Ride-Hailing in Madrid in 2027: Test Vehicles Take to the Streets
Waymo, Alphabet's self-driving unit, announced on October 20 that it plans to launch a fully autonomous ride-hailing service in Spain's Madrid region in 2027, its first deployment in the country. In the coming days, its Jaguar I-PACE vehicles will appear on Madrid streets, driven manually by trained specialists to build high-definition maps and conduct software tests.
Testing will run under the Spanish traffic agency DGT's framework for Level 4 automated vehicles (Instrucción VEH 2025/07), covering the city of Madrid, Alcobendas and Getafe, by day and by night, with the cars running on red temporary plates. Following Waymo's usual playbook, the vehicles will first map the streets manually, then drive themselves with a specialist on board, and only in 2027 run with no one in the driver's seat and carry paying passengers. The first fleet will be small. The cars use the fifth-generation Waymo Driver, with lidar, radar and 29 cameras. Co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana called Madrid "an incredible capital of innovation," as quoted by Expansión.
Waymo already operates commercial robotaxi services in multiple U.S. cities and is testing in London and Tokyo. On October 16, it announced its first Canadian deployment, in Toronto, targeting service in 2028; Madrid would be among its first footholds in continental Europe.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: Waymo捷豹I-PACE无人驾驶车在旧金山街头，Dllu摄，CC BY 4.0（Wikimedia Commons）；A Waymo Jaguar I-PACE driverless car in San Francisco, photo by Dllu, CC BY 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
