Pony.ai begins Gen-7 robotaxi testing in Manchester

Pony.ai, Uber and Verne have begun testing Pony.ai’s seventh-generation robotaxis in Manchester, making it the companies’ second announced UK city after London. The vehicles are mapping city streets with a safety driver at the wheel and are not carrying passengers.

The Manchester trial was announced Oct. 14, less than a week after the London project. As we reported on Oct. 8, Uber and Pony.ai had planned to begin London road tests in the following weeks.

The Manchester programme remains a road-testing exercise rather than a passenger robotaxi launch. The Guardian reported that no official application had been made for a passenger service, while Transport for Greater Manchester said it had received no applications to operate driverless taxis in the area. The transport body said safety would be its top priority and that it would require strong assurances that vehicles posed no risk to residents.

The partners describe Manchester as offering high-density, short-distance journeys as well as suburban connections, giving the vehicles a different set of operating conditions from London. Uber has not confirmed a date for a public Manchester service.

The arrangement assigns distinct roles to the three companies. Pony.ai supplies autonomous-driving technology, Verne handles local fleet operations, and Uber provides passenger access through its booking, payment and customer-service systems. The broader model can allocate vehicle ownership and financing differently between partners depending on the market.

It follows the companies’ commercial robotaxi service in Zagreb, Croatia, which Uber, Pony.ai and Verne describe as Europe’s first. The initial Zagreb service operated daily across about 90 square kilometres, including the airport, and was initially bookable through Verne’s app, with Uber-app availability planned.

Pony.ai and Uber have said their expanded European partnership aims to deploy more than 2,000 robotaxis, spreading from Zagreb to four additional European cities. Their collaboration began in May 2025, when they announced plans to put Pony.ai robotaxis on Uber’s platform in international markets.

Pony.ai’s Gen-7 vehicles entered mass production and road testing in China in 2025. The company said the system used automotive-grade components and cut the bill of materials for its autonomous-driving kit by 70% compared with the previous generation. Uber expected to offer robotaxi trips in as many as 15 cities worldwide by the end of 2026, chiefly in the United States and the Middle East.