Liverpool drivers might want to keep an eye out after a reader got in touch with DriverMatty to report a strange sighting on the city’s roads — a car fitted with what looks like a roof-mounted radar unit, carrying European number plates and displaying an Nvidia logo in the window.
What was spotted
The reader sent Matty a photograph of the vehicle after spotting it out on the road, and the picture immediately raised questions. Nvidia is one of the biggest names in the self-driving world, supplying the chips and software that power a huge chunk of the autonomous vehicle industry, so seeing its branding on a car parked up on a Liverpool street was enough to make anyone look twice.
According to the person who sent the picture in, he approached the car and spoke to whoever was with it. He told Matty he was informed the vehicle was using the radar unit fitted to its roof to scan the surrounding area as part of testing driverless technology.
DM News hasn’t been able to independently confirm which company the vehicle belongs to, what specific trial it may be linked to, or whether it holds any testing permissions for UK roads. The European plates suggest the car may have arrived from the continent for testing purposes, but that’s not something we can verify beyond what was described to Matty at the scene.
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Why it matters for Liverpool’s drivers
Whatever the full story turns out to be, sightings like this are becoming less unusual. Autonomous vehicle testing has been ramping up across the UK, with trials already under way or planned in cities including London, and manufacturers increasingly using British and European roads to gather real-world data before wider rollouts.
For taxi and private hire drivers working the Liverpool circuit, it’s another reminder that the technology isn’t just a London story anymore. Test vehicles quietly gathering data on ordinary streets could become a more common sight before any of us are picking up passengers alongside a driverless competitor.
If you’re driving around Liverpool or the wider Merseyside area and heading to the airport, it’s always worth having a reliable transfer option in your back pocket — something the team at Manpool Transfers deal with day in, day out for local airport runs.
Matty covered the sighting in a video on Facebook, showing the photograph and talking through what he was told. If you’ve spotted anything similar out on the road, DM News wants to hear about it.
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