Waymo, an Alphabet company, plans to begin testing autonomous vehicles in Munich within the next few weeks. The company aims to launch a public robotaxi service in the German city by the end of 2027.
A small fleet of all-electric Jaguar I-PACE vehicles will operate with trained safety drivers behind the wheel in areas such as Maxvorstadt, Au-Haidhausen, and Ludwigsvorstadt-Isarvorstadt. The testing phase will allow Waymo to map local streets and evaluate its driverless technology in a dense urban environment. Waymo has not yet disclosed the exact number of vehicles it will deploy for the testing fleet.
Munich is part of a broader, unannounced corporate expansion across Europe that has taken place over recent months. Subsidiaries including Waymo Germany GmbH, Waymo Iberia SL, Waymo Netherlands B.V., Waymo France EURL, and Waymo Switzerland GmbH have been incorporated in various European jurisdictions since May. The company also incorporated Waymo Korea Limited in Seoul.
A key hurdle for the Munich timeline is obtaining regulatory approval. Waymo currently lacks type approval for Level 4 systems—which are completely autonomous within specific situations without human backup—from the German Federal Motor Transport Authority. Competitors such as Mobileye and Volkswagen have already secured German testing permits. Germany established a legal pathway for Level 4 autonomous vehicles in designated areas through a 2021 law.
While Munich is a primary focus, London could see a public robotaxi service sooner. Waymo aims to begin public rides in London as early as September, following testing that began in late 2025 in partnership with Moove. Globally, Waymo operates over 3,500 cars across 11 US cities, facilitating more than 500,000 commercial rides weekly with over 350 million autonomous kilometers driven.
