Driverless taxis arrive in Madrid, moving closer to Portugal

Driverless taxis are getting increasingly close to Portugal. Waymo, a US company belonging to Alphabet, the group responsible for Google, has received authorisation to begin testing autonomous vehicles in Madrid, Spain. The aim is to start carrying passengers without a driver as early as 2027.

The arrival of these vehicles on the Iberian Peninsula represents a new step in the evolution of mobility and comes at a time when companies such as Uber, Bolt and Xpeng are also accelerating the development of autonomous driving solutions.

But how do these taxis work? And when could they arrive on Portuguese roads?

Waymo prepares arrival of autonomous taxis in Madrid in 2027

Waymo is preparing to enter the Spanish market through a testing programme authorised by the authorities of the Community of Madrid.

In this first phase, the vehicles will operate in Madrid, Getafe and Alcobendas, allowing the company to gather information on traffic conditions, road signs and the behaviour of other road users.

The chosen cars are 100% electric Jaguar I-PACE models, equipped with advanced autonomous driving technology.

To operate and identify everything happening around them, these vehicles combine different systems:

• Cameras, which make it possible to recognise traffic signs, vehicles, pedestrians and other elements of the road.

• Radars, which help determine the distance and speed of nearby objects.

• LiDAR sensors, which use light pulses to create a three-dimensional representation of the surrounding environment.

The information collected is processed by the autonomous driving systems, allowing the car to interpret traffic and make decisions while driving.

Although they are designed to operate without a driver, Waymo vehicles will initially travel with a person behind the wheel, responsible for supervising the tests and intervening whenever necessary.

The transition to fully autonomous driving will be gradual and will depend on the results obtained and the necessary authorisations.

The company intends to carry its first passengers in Madrid during 2027, although it has not yet announced the specific launch date of the service, trip prices or the size of the fleet.

Uber, Bolt and Xpeng are also investing in driverless taxis

Waymo is not the only company interested in transforming passenger transport.

Uber and Bolt, two platforms well known to Portuguese users, are also developing autonomous mobility projects in different European markets.

Uber has announced autonomous driving tests in Madrid and maintains partnerships with companies specialising in this technology, including WeRide and Pony.ai.

The company is also involved in projects in the United Kingdom and Croatia, where it is seeking to develop solutions that allow passengers to be transported with increasingly reduced human intervention.

Bolt, meanwhile, has been exploring the technology through different partnerships, including projects with Stellantis and Pony.ai in Luxembourg.

In September 2026, it also announced an agreement with NVIDIA and Lucid, with the aim of developing new autonomous mobility services by 2035.

Meanwhile, in China, Xpeng received authorisation to carry passengers in demonstration operations of its Yoyo autonomous taxis in the city of Guangzhou.

These vehicles use level 4 autonomous driving technology, which allows them to operate without human intervention in certain areas or under predefined conditions.

Volkswagen has also received authorisation to test vehicles with level 3 autonomous driving in the Chinese city of Hefei. In this case, the system can take over certain driving tasks but requires the driver to be available to regain control when necessary.

These initiatives show how autonomous driving is evolving rapidly, although commercial use continues to depend on the technical conditions and legislation of each country.

When could driverless taxis arrive in Portugal?

The arrival of robotaxis in Madrid raises an inevitable question: when will we be able to use a driverless taxi in Portugal?

For now, there is no announced date for the launch of commercial fully autonomous taxi services in the country.

Even so, Portugal has already begun creating the legal conditions for the development of this technology.

In July 2026, Decree-Law No. 113/2026 came into force, establishing a legal framework for testing autonomous driving systems on public roads.

The legislation allows trials to be carried out subject to authorisation and human supervision, but it does not mean that vehicles can circulate freely without a driver or provide commercial autonomous transport services.

The experience being prepared in Spain could, however, help demonstrate how this technology works under European driving conditions.

Madrid’s geographical proximity and the presence of platforms such as Uber and Bolt in Portugal make this development particularly relevant to the Portuguese market.

Are autonomous taxis safe?

Road safety is one of the main issues associated with the use of driverless vehicles.

According to data released by Waymo, its cars have already travelled more than 400 million kilometres in fully autonomous mode.

The company states that, in the areas analysed, its vehicles recorded a 95% reduction in crashes involving serious injuries or more severe consequences, compared with results associated with human driving.

Although these figures are presented by the company itself and relate to the specific conditions of its operations, the results help illustrate the potential of this technology to reduce accidents linked to human error.

Waymo also states that it has already completed more than 20 million paid journeys, providing hundreds of thousands of commercial trips per week.

Growth in this sector could be significant in the coming years. According to Morgan Stanley estimates, the global autonomous taxi market could reach one trillion dollars by 2040, equivalent to approximately €894 billion.

For passengers, autonomous driving could represent a new form of mobility, with services available through apps and vehicles capable of completing journeys without constant driver intervention.

However, challenges remain regarding regulation, operating costs and the ability of systems to respond to complex traffic situations.

With Waymo’s first tests in Madrid and the aim of starting passenger transport in 2027, driverless taxis are moving closer to becoming a reality in Portugal.

The key question is no longer simply whether this technology will arrive in Portugal, but when the conditions will be in place for its commercial use.

Sources: SIC Notícias, ACP, Revista Carros, Turbo