I watched a Volkswagen ID. Buzz glide past a strip mall in Los Angeles with no one at the wheel. You felt that small, electric jolt—half excitement, half unease. I remember thinking: the future just pulled up to the curb.
Uber has quietly shifted from pilots to stacking partnerships, and today it announced on-road validation tests of autonomous ID. Buzz vans in Los Angeles with MOIA America, Volkswagen’s autonomous mobility arm. The companies say they’ll scale the fleet to more than 100 custom-built robotaxis while running supervised rides this year and public availability by late 2026.
On a Los Angeles curb, an ID. Buzz waits as a safety operator steps out.
The vehicle you’ll see is an autonomous-ready ID. Buzz: an electric reboot of Volkswagen’s 1960s microbus fitted with MOIA’s driving stack and Uber’s dispatch plumbing. Rides with human safety operators supervising the technology are slated to begin later this year; the companies plan to expand testing to over 100 vans as they collect miles and edge toward fully public service by late 2026.
MOIA and Uber opened a joint operations facility in LA to run day-to-day work — charging, cleaning, software updates and the data loops that feed continuous improvement. Sarfraz Maredia, Uber’s Global Head of Autonomous Mobility & Delivery, framed the rollout as a combination of Volkswagen hardware, MOIA software and Uber’s global platform to bring autonomous rides to more riders in LA and beyond.
When will Uber start offering public robotaxi rides?
Validation testing is active now with supervised runs; expect public-facing, driverless options advertised in the Uber app by late 2026, with supervised rides appearing before then. The path is incremental: supervised tests → expanded fleet → public availability.
At an autonomous depot, technicians wheel out chargers and inspection carts.
Uber isn’t only buying vehicles — it’s building the support system. The company committed to more than $100 million (€92 million) in investments for autonomous-vehicle charging hubs in the Bay Area, Los Angeles and Dallas. These “autonomous depots” host fast-charging stations, maintenance bays and inspection workflows to keep robotaxis on the road.
Uber also plans fast-charging “pit stop” sites around priority cities so vehicles spend more time serving trips and less time idling for power. That operational backbone is what separates a handful of test cars from a fleet that can scale across neighborhoods.
Are the ID. Buzz vans fully autonomous?
Not yet. Early rides will have human safety operators supervising the system. The ID. Buzz used in testing is an autonomous-ready platform running MOIA’s stack; it will collect miles under supervision before remote or driverless operations expand.
On the app, your next trip could list a driverless van as an option during rush hour.
Uber’s strategy is aggregation—pairing its marketplace with multiple vehicle and autonomy partners. Recent pacts include a Rivian deal to deploy as many as 50,000 robotaxis by 2031 (starting in San Francisco and Miami in 2028), and an agreement with Lucid and Nuro to field at least 20,000 Lucid Gravity SUVs with Nuro’s self-driving tech over five years. Waymo rides are already bookable through Uber in Austin and Atlanta.
The rollout reads like two forces closing: hardware makers building electric platforms, and software firms turning sensors and code into predictable routing. The ID. Buzz tests are only the latest move in that chessboard — Uber is assembling its robotaxi network like a chess player stacking pawns toward an endgame.
How many driverless vans will Uber test in LA?
The initial validation phase calls for scaling to over 100 ID. Buzz vehicles during testing; a wider deployment would depend on regulatory sign-offs, safety data and rider demand.
You’ll see more partnerships, more depots and more automated miles before a driverless ride becomes ordinary — and when that day arrives, you’ll have to decide whether you step into a van with a human watching the dashboard or wait for the fully driverless service; which will you choose?