Volkswagen L3 Permit and Stellantis Paris Robotaxi Plan Advance

Two legacy automakers, two very different bets

In the space of a few days in late October, two of Europe's largest carmakers made moves on self-driving technology that point in opposite directions. Volkswagen Group China got a permit to test Level 3 automated driving on public roads in Hefei. Stellantis signed up for a pair of French initiatives aimed at Level 4 driverless vehicles and a robotaxi-style service around Paris.15 On the surface, both announcements look like steps toward the same goal. Read alongside Waymo's growth, Tesla's European approval campaign and the first commercial driverless trucking contracts, they show an industry that is now arguing about who carries legal responsibility and who controls the customer, more than about whether the technology works.

Volkswagen's Hefei permit: real, but modest

Volkswagen says it has started testing in Hefei. The permit also lets it collect driving data at scale across the city, and the company is aiming for Level 3 readiness in 2027.69 Arena EV's reporting puts the target more precisely at production readiness in the second half of 2027.7 The test system is Hyper Sense 8. It was developed by CARIZON, the joint venture between VW's software unit CARIAD and Chinese chip specialist Horizon Robotics.7 It is trained with GAIA 2.0, an in-house world model that VW says simulates the equivalent of 5 million kilometres of safety driving every day, drawn from about 30 million scenario clips. VW wants to double that to 10 million kilometres a day.1 VW is also building its own C7H chip, which it says can scale to Level 4.9

Coverage splits on how much this matters. VW's own framing, repeated by The Driven, stresses that the permit came under China's toughest L3 framework so far.1 Electrek is more sceptical. It notes that this is a test permit, not approval to sell, and that VW did not say which authority issued it, how many cars are involved or which roads they can use.9 Electrek also points out that China's industry ministry gave its first L3 product approvals in December 2025 to a Changan model and a BAIC Arcfox model, and that GAC's Hyptec brand and Xpeng already hold their own L3 test permits.9 That points to a simple conclusion: VW is catching up to Chinese rivals in their home market, not leading them.

Arena EV sees a second story in the permit. In its reading, leaning on Horizon Robotics and on VW's roughly 5% stake in Xpeng amounts to the group quietly giving up on writing one software stack for every brand from Germany.7 This article takes that view too. The Hefei permit is less a technical first than a sign of where VW's software work now happens.

Why the timing matters in China

The permit is also a signal about Chinese regulators. Bloomberg reported that VW and Xpeng won their approvals as authorities stepped up large-scale deployment again after a safety review.6 Xpeng's robotaxi unit was cleared for Level 4 operations across Guangzhou, with riders let in first by invitation code.8 The Next Web, citing Bloomberg, traced the background: China stopped issuing new robotaxi licences in April after an incident involving Baidu vehicles in Wuhan, and approvals started again in July, with Momenta among the first.8 China has also issued mandatory national safety standards for vehicles with L3 and L4 systems, which take effect on July 1, 2027.10 That lines up closely with VW's 2027 target. VW appears to be timing its launch to the new rules, not getting ahead of them.

Stellantis bets on France, and on partners

Stellantis is taking a different route. It joined a coalition with Wayve, Nvidia and the French government in which, as electrive describes it, each party has a set role. Stellantis supplies L4-ready vehicle platforms and builds the cars. Wayve supplies the AI driving software. Nvidia supplies sensors and computing through its Hyperion architecture and Halos operating system.5 The stated aim is a full supply chain in France, from chip to finished car.1

The second announcement is more concrete. Stellantis, ride-hailing company Bolt and the Métropole du Grand Paris have put forward a pilot to the European Commission's ADACities initiative, with a start planned for 2028.1 Electrive adds details The Driven leaves out. Testing would begin in up to five municipalities in the north-west of the metropolitan area and could grow to about 30 by 2030, when commercial service would start. Pony.ai is named as a possible software supplier.5 So Stellantis's Paris plan may not depend on Wayve alone, even as it promotes the Wayve partnership. That suggests a deliberate hedge across software suppliers.

France's rules help explain the choice. Electrive notes that France brought in Level 4 automated-driving laws early, which gives developers legal certainty for public-road testing.5 Even so, a 2028 start in a few suburbs is a cautious timeline next to the pace of the market leader.

The benchmark: Waymo keeps widening the gap

Waymo is now growing at a rate European pilots cannot match. On November 3 it extended its Los Angeles service into Torrance, El Segundo and Manhattan Beach. The LA Times put the service area at 210 square miles, while an independent tracker counted 213.2122 Electrek described that move as part of almost 250 square miles of new coverage across five metro areas in about a week.23 Inc. reports that Waymo runs about 4,000 vehicles in 15 US cities, and Semafor reports it plans 8,000 by the end of this year and 20,000 by the end of 2027.2730 Abroad, it plans to test Toyota bZ4X robotaxis in Japan from 2027.29

Waymo is also tightening its grip on riders. It plans to end Uber's exclusive role in Austin and Atlanta and launch its own app there in January 2028.24 That is relevant to Stellantis. Its Paris model depends on Bolt as the platform that faces customers, while the leading US operator is moving the other way and taking that relationship for itself.

Tesla is the main challenger. Texas registration records list 1,244 vehicles under Tesla's robotaxi entity against 1,259 for Waymo, though registrations do not show how many cars actually carry paying passengers.25 Tesla Cybercabs with test drivers have also been seen in Detroit, where Waymo began fully driverless testing in October.28

Tesla's European approval fight

Tesla's European campaign shows how much regulators in the EU now shape the product itself. The Dutch authority RDW approved an update that renames FSD Supervised as Tesla Assisted Driving in Europe. It also cuts the maximum speed offset, the amount the car may exceed the limit, from +50% to +10%.1613 Those were exactly Germany's demands: it said it would back EU-wide approval if Tesla renamed the system and capped the offset at 10%.16 Ten EU countries now accept the Dutch approval, Latvia most recently.14 France and Spain, however, say the decision belongs at EU level, and France wants technical changes and road tests first.11

EU-wide approval needs at least 15 member states representing 65% of the EU's population, and a vote is expected in December.16 Not everyone agrees on the system's safety. Reuters reported that the RDW kept Tesla's safety case confidential at the company's request.13 A Brussels road-safety group found the system exceeding 30 km/h limits on more than half of the road segments it tested.13 VW's L3 approach shifts liability to the manufacturer while the system is driving. Tesla's remains a Level 2 system in which the driver stays responsible, which is the distinction Electrek and Arena EV both draw.79

Trucking may get there first

For commercial deployment without a driver, long-haul freight may beat passenger cars in Europe. Kodiak signed a binding deal for carrier DTL Transport to run 75 driverless trucks on Interstate 10 and Interstate 20, paying a per-mile fee.35 TechCrunch reports deliveries start in 2028, and that Kodiak plans to take safety operators out of the cab for IKEA freight between Dallas and Houston in December.37 Aurora is targeting more than 1,000 driverless trucks by the end of 2027 and 30,000 by 2030, although its production ramp is about six weeks behind schedule.38 Volvo says driverless trucks running on Aurora's system will be on Texas roads without safety drivers in the first quarter of 2027.39 US regulators are also clearing practical obstacles. The FMCSA granted an exemption that lets driverless trucks use cab-mounted warning beacons instead of placing reflective triangles by hand after a breakdown.31

The takeaway

Taken together, the coverage suggests VW and Stellantis are positioning themselves rather than leading. VW is following China's regulatory timetable through local partners, and Stellantis is using France's legal framework and EU programmes to build a coalition. Both make sense. But while Waymo adds hundreds of square miles in weeks and Texas freight lanes lose their drivers, Europe's carmakers are still at the permit-and-pilot stage, with the main tests set for 2027 and 2028.