Manchester's driverless taxi tests have no passengers and no licence applications

The distance between a test fleet and a taxi service is the story here. Riders in Greater Manchester still cannot hail a driverless car. No launch date, fare, fleet size or service area has been announced. A Seoul court ruling on 29 October shows the same gate from the buyer's side. Owners who paid for Tesla's Full Self-Driving option carried the risk that regulators would never allow it. Toyota and Waymo's plan to test a robotaxi fleet in Japan puts the start of operations in 2027, not this year.

Manchester tests without a taxi licence

The Manchester work is mapping, not a service. Pony.ai's Gen-7 vehicles carry a safety driver and nobody rides along. Verne said it had "started our autonomous vehicle testing in Manchester," according to a statement quoted by EV Compared. Uber brings the ride-hailing platform. Pony.ai brings the autonomous driving technology and the vehicles. Verne brings what it calls a service ecosystem and operational framework.

Mapping runs come first because an autonomous system needs a detailed picture of lane layouts, junctions, signage and local driving habits. A mapping trial is a precondition for a service, not a promise of one. The three companies have not published contract terms, including who owns the fleet or carries liability.

Seoul court puts FSD risk on buyers

The Seoul Central District Court dismissed a lawsuit by 89 Tesla owners against Tesla Korea on 29 October. The owners had sought to cancel their FSD option purchases and get their money back. Ninety-eight owners filed in December 2024 and nine dropped out during the trial. The court ruled that the FSD option contract was an indeterminate contract to provide the option in case of "regulatory approval and technological advancement". It said the option meant partial automation that still requires driver intervention, not Level 5 driving. Tesla has sold FSD options for 6 million to 10 million won in Korea since March 2017. It has not implemented the function there.

The court also found Tesla had limited obligations. They covered only autonomous driving capabilities that domestic and international regulations allowed.

Toyota and Waymo plan Japan test in 2027

Toyota and Waymo said they will begin initial operations to test and validate an autonomous Toyota bZ4X fleet in Japan in 2027. They plan to deploy to the United Kingdom and other Waymo-serviced markets in the following years. Toyota will build the vehicles at its Takaoka plant in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture, integrating Waymo's autonomous hardware under one roof. The companies described the plan as scaling safety-validated Level 4 autonomous vehicles. Waymo co-CEO Dmitri Dolgov said the company is up to 20x safer than human drivers for serious crash injuries in areas where it operates. The Japanese test is more than a year away.

What happens next

The two companies said they will also explore autonomous driving technology for personally owned Toyota vehicles. Manchester has no announced date for passenger service.