France will write its own rulebook for driverless cars by mid-2027, and three groups want to run robotaxis around Paris from 2028. Both came out of the Assises du Véhicule Autonome in Paris on 23 October 2026. Transport minister Philippe Tabarot said France would adapt its regulatory framework to allow vehicles with no driver, and BFM TV reports that his ministry will set a national approval doctrine, defining the safety rules step by step, in the first half of 2027. France would accelerate autonomous vehicles "while maintaining strict requirements on safety and data sovereignty", Tabarot said.
Three bids for Paris
| Project | Partners | What was announced |
|---|---|---|
| Greater Paris Autonomous Driving Living Lab | Métropole du Grand Paris, Bolt, Stellantis, Pony.ai | Up to 5 towns from 2028, about 30 by 2030 |
| National robotaxi alliance | Wayve, Stellantis, Nvidia, Uber, backed by the French government | France as a European base for Level 4 robotaxis; no date or fleet size reported |
| Clichy bid | Town of Clichy, taxi firm G7, Milla | A "100% sovereign" alternative run with professional taxi drivers |
The Greater Paris and Clichy projects are competing bids for the European Commission's Autonomous Drive Ambition Cities (ADACities) initiative. Separately, Île-de-France Mobilités plans a driverless public-transport pilot from early 2028 around Versailles, Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines and Paris-Saclay.
How the Greater Paris pilot would work
The first phase covers at most five towns in the north-west of the metropolis, which BFM places in the Hauts-de-Seine, with commercial service in about 30 towns targeted for 2030, subject to approval. Stellantis supplies vehicles on its "L4-Ready" platform with redundant steering and braking. Pony.ai is named as the potential supplier of the driving software, running on Nvidia's Hyperion platform, and Bolt runs the service through its Bolt Autonomous Driving Solutions subsidiary. The first deployment will be independently evaluated for safety, rider acceptance and fit with public transport.
The fleet would start small. Bolt is "ready to invest and launch up to 33 vehicles at first", Charlotte Eisner of Bolt told Journal Auto, but going further needs "a clear trajectory towards large-scale commercial operations". BFM reports that, to be cleared in France, Pony.ai's system would have to make its driving decisions on board, with no map data or images leaving the EU. Taxi federations want operating permits reserved first for existing licence holders.
What it means for Tesla
None of these projects uses a Tesla vehicle or Tesla software. The cars come from Stellantis and the driving software from Pony.ai or Wayve. France matters to Tesla anyway. It refused FSD (Supervised) in July, promised in September to support its approval, and is now drafting the national rules that any driverless service in France, Tesla's included, would have to follow. FSD (Supervised) is a Level 2 system with a driver in charge, so it is a separate approval track from Level 4 robotaxis. Musk has said the Cybercab is coming to Europe without giving a date.
Where Paris fits in Europe
Paris joins a growing list of European robotaxi plans: Wayve and Uber in London, Pony.ai and Verne in Zagreb, and Waymo in Munich and Madrid, both targeting 2027. Bolt's earlier plan for 25,000 Lucid robotaxis named no city. Its Paris bid comes with a place, a 2028 start and Stellantis vehicles.