Great piece Tym. If we are talking industrial strategy, is there any plan to integrate autonomy with West Midlands’ strength in auto manufacturing? There are plans to make the VLR in Coventry autonomous. Could West Mids lead the charge to automate other transport as well?
Great question Ed! In fact, the West Midlands is already leading the charge in UK autonomous transport... Where to begin!
WMG – Warwick's engineering research-to-industry department – is one of the key players in shaping domestic and international autonomous vehicle standards. You may want to Google Siddartha Khastgir, who's the head of Safe Autonomy.
Aurrigo is a Coventry-based autonomous vehicle manufacturer with a division focused on vehicles that transport luggage in airports. They are already exporting this service to the US and Singapore. As far as I'm aware, they are the only European player in this niche.
Essentially all autonomous vehicles are electric, and the West Midlands' manufacturing capacity is shifting towards EVs and batteries (you would know best). It is an open question however as to how much new autonomous vehicle manufacturing should open in the West Midlands, I haven't thought about that deeply (yet!).
Wayve's model licensing stratrgy is clever, especailly if they can avoid the mapping overhead that limits Waymo's expansion. The real test will be how the tech performs in edge cases without those explicit safety rules. It's also worth thinking about whether the government's bet will actually support displaced taxi drivers, or if we're just hoping the market figures it out.
Thank you Tym, that was a good read and I've now subscribed to your substack
Thank you for the kind words Arthur!
Great piece Tym. If we are talking industrial strategy, is there any plan to integrate autonomy with West Midlands’ strength in auto manufacturing? There are plans to make the VLR in Coventry autonomous. Could West Mids lead the charge to automate other transport as well?
Great question Ed! In fact, the West Midlands is already leading the charge in UK autonomous transport... Where to begin!
WMG – Warwick's engineering research-to-industry department – is one of the key players in shaping domestic and international autonomous vehicle standards. You may want to Google Siddartha Khastgir, who's the head of Safe Autonomy.
Transport for West Midlands and Solihull Council has just published specifications on what UK-based autonomous public transport could look like and the role of local governments in this transition: https://highways-news.com/blueprint-for-automated-buses-unveiled-by-transport-for-west-midlands-and-solihull-council
Aurrigo is a Coventry-based autonomous vehicle manufacturer with a division focused on vehicles that transport luggage in airports. They are already exporting this service to the US and Singapore. As far as I'm aware, they are the only European player in this niche.
JLR is investing in 150 new maintenance technician roles (between Solihull and Wolverhampton) to support their autonomous, EV, and innovative transport strategy: https://media.jaguarlandrover.com/news/2025/03/jlr-announces-150-new-manufacturing-roles-supporting-production-range-rover-electric
Essentially all autonomous vehicles are electric, and the West Midlands' manufacturing capacity is shifting towards EVs and batteries (you would know best). It is an open question however as to how much new autonomous vehicle manufacturing should open in the West Midlands, I haven't thought about that deeply (yet!).
Very cool. Wd love to see a piece on this.
Interesting take. Regulatory clarity might end up being Britain’s biggest competitive advantage.
I hope we don’t end up giving more money to Elon Musk
Wayve's model licensing stratrgy is clever, especailly if they can avoid the mapping overhead that limits Waymo's expansion. The real test will be how the tech performs in edge cases without those explicit safety rules. It's also worth thinking about whether the government's bet will actually support displaced taxi drivers, or if we're just hoping the market figures it out.