As Washington hardens curbs on “connected vehicles” from China, the country’s autonomous-vehicle (AV) leaders are following the open lanes—toward Europe. In the past year, firms such as QCraft, DeepRoute.ai, Baidu’s Apollo, and Momenta have opened European outposts, signed testing and safety partnerships, and targeted first pilots in Germany and the UK. The logic is straightforward: Europe offers sophisticated roads, dense urban data, and—crucially—a regulatory path to paying robotaxi services, even if it’s fragmented and cautious.

The policy shove is coming from the U.S. side. In January 2025, the Commerce Department finalized a rule that effectively bars Chinese- and Russian-linked software and hardware from connected vehicles on American roads, with phased cutoffs that bite this decade. That raises the compliance burden for any Chinese AV stack trying to sell into the U.S., and it tilts near-term expansion calculus toward jurisdictions where the bar is clearer rather than outright closed.

Europe is no pushover, but the door is ajar. Germany already has a legal framework for Level-4 operations in defined areas, while the UK’s Automated Vehicles Act is moving from statute to permits for “automated passenger services.” Against that backdrop, programmatic launches are forming: Uber and Momenta plan robotaxi testing in Munich in 2026; Baidu and Lyft are preparing an Apollo Go rollout in Europe starting the same year, initially in Germany and the UK, subject to local approvals. Meanwhile, Chinese AV suppliers are stitching up certification partners—think TÜV alliances—and demoing at IAA Mobility to localize safety cases and interfaces.

This pivot will test Europe’s balance between openness and resilience. National security and data-localization debates are sharpening, and Brussels is mulling a more unified AV rulebook. Yet for now, European cities that want cleaner, cheaper, and denser mobility options will find no shortage of suitors. If pilots hit their milestones—safety, uptime, cost-per-kilometer—2026–2027 could mark the moment when China’s AV playbook gets a European translation.

References

• Reuters, “China bets on Europe for self-driving tech expansion” (Oct 6, 2025). Reuters
• White House (Fact Sheet), “Safeguarding America from national security risks of connected vehicle technology from China and Russia” (Jan 14, 2025). The White House
• U.S. Federal Register, “Securing the ICTS Supply Chain: Connected Vehicles — Final Rule” (Jan 16, 2025). Federal Register
• U.S. Dept. of Commerce / BIS press release on the final rule (Jan 14, 2025). Bureau of Industry and Security
• UK Government, “Automated Vehicles Act 2024 — implementation” (June 10, 2025). GOV.UK
• UK Government, “Automated Passenger Services (APS) permitting scheme — consultation” (July 21, 2025). GOV.UK
• Germany Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport, “Act on Autonomous Driving (Level 4 operations)” (framework overview). BMV
• Reuters, “Lyft, China’s Baidu to launch robotaxi service in Europe next year” (Aug 4, 2025). Reuters
• Electrive, “Uber and Momenta plan to test robotaxis in Munich in 2026” (Sep 10, 2025). electrive.com
• Momenta press page, “Uber and Momenta Announce Testing to Begin in Munich” (Sep 8, 2025). momenta.cn
• QCraft–TÜV Rheinland partnership announcement for Europe (Sep 12, 2025). World Business Outlook
• Reuters, “EU’s Von der Leyen urges European push on AI-driven cars” (Oct 3, 2025). Reuters