While in some cities in the United States and China it is no longer so weird to meet robotaxis without driver, in Europe we remain stuck in a tangle of regulations that stop the development of autonomous driving. However, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has already given the alarm, admitting that “autonomous cars are already a reality in the United States and China. The same should be true here in Europe.” And the strategy in the EU seems to be very in the line that with AI: “Safety First” (first security).
The background problem. Europe maintains technological capacity and large manufacturers, but its regulatory fragmentation is leaving it out of play. Each country has its own rules to test and homologate autonomous vehicles, which complicates large -scale deployment. Meanwhile, states such as Arizona or California in the US, and cities such as Beijing or Shenzhen in China, have been testing robotaxis in their streets without bureaucratic obstacles.
China and the US have the front. In China, more than 60% of cars sold this year include level 2 autonomous driving technology, often standard even in basic models. Companies like Weride, Pony AI or Apollo Go have the support of the Chinese State and are expanding aggressively. In the United States, Waymo, owned by Alphabet, already has a license to test in New York, while Tesla already tested in Austin last June by transporting passengers in their cars. In fact, Musk’s company would give the tyco a bonus of one billion dollars if, among other objectives, it manages to put a million robotaxis in circulation.
Europe tries to react. Volkswagen has presented his id. Buzz ad through Moia, its mobility subsidiary, with plans to display autonomous vehicles in Europe and the US from 2026. von der Leyen has proposed to create a network of European cities to pilot cars without driver, with 60 Italian mayors already interested. However, analysts warn that mass adoption will not arrive before 2030-2040. The road is long and the delay, evident.
China accelerates. Blocked in the US market for national security reasons, Chinese autonomous driving companies are accelerating their arrival in Europe. Qcraft has announced a headquarters in Germany, Momenta is associated with Uber to test in Munich, and Deeproute.AI negotiates with European and Chinese manufacturers to install a data center on the continent. “Europe is the only market they can come from,” says you, founder of the consultant but Auto Insights. This generates alarm among some European competitors, which demands subsidies and greater regulation to level competition.
Delay in Europe. The EU has established strict barriers to data protection and artificial intelligence, which forces other foreign companies to adapt their systems, but does not prevent their entry. Some European executives, such as Alex Kendall from Wayve, advocate an open market that accelerates development. Others, such as Jim Hutchinson from Fusion Processing, ask for greater regulatory intervention. There is a substantive issue, and it is the control of the data that are processed in vehicles, very valuable sensitive information for companies that seek to capitalize on it.
What is coming. The European Commission works to harmonize regulations to facilitate the evidence and deployment of advanced systems, but for now only countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom allow tests beyond the basic level 2. Autonomous driving is one of the segments in which a large investment is expected by specialized companies, and everything indicates that Europe will continue to opt for strict regulation.
Cover image | Baidu
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