Momenta gets a nationwide German permit to test driverless cars on city streets

Germany's transport authority cleared Momenta for Level 4 urban testing across the whole country, with Munich as its first robotaxi city.

Momenta received a testing permit from Germany's Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) allowing Level 4 autonomous-driving tests on urban roads across the country. The company says it is the first Chinese firm to obtain nationwide Level 4 urban-road testing authorization in Germany — a claim that comes from Momenta. Crucially, the permit removes the need to apply city by city, and Momenta's safety validation will align with the EU regulatory framework.

Momenta plans to make Munich its first European robotaxi city, partnering with Uber. Uber added to its stake during Momenta's Hong Kong IPO, taking its total holding to about 1.19 million shares, worth roughly $45 million at the offer price. Momenta listed on HKEX on July 8, raising about HK$6.8 billion, with about 20% of proceeds earmarked for robotaxi commercialization. Its ecosystem also includes Grab, Lumo and SAIC's ride-hailing unit, plus carmaker partners Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi and Volkswagen Group.

A single national testing clearance matters for mobility because it collapses the regulatory friction that usually forces autonomous developers to negotiate one municipality at a time. If driverless services eventually reach commercial scale, the per-ride cost of getting around a city can fall well below owning a car or paying a human driver.

This is a testing permit, not a commercial launch — no paying passengers yet. The characterization of the approval as an endorsement of technology maturity is an interpretation, and the timeline from validation runs to a running service in Munich remains open.

Source: CnEVPost