Categories: Wire Stories

Pony.ai Approved to Deploy Fully Driverless L4 Autonomous Vehicles in Beijing

Among the first batch of two companies to receive a driverless testing permit

Pony.ai is also testing fully driverless autonomous vehicles in Guangzhou

FREMONT, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Pony.ai, a leading global autonomous driving technology company, announced that it has been issued a fully driverless autonomous vehicle road test permit by the Beijing Intelligent Connected Vehicle Policy Pilot Zone. With this new permit, Pony.ai will deploy ten driverless robotaxis for testing in challenging urban traffic scenarios across a 20 square kilometer (7.7 square mile) area in the pilot zone in Yizhuang, Beijing. The autonomous vehicles will be tested without anyone in the vehicle; a safety officer will monitor the test vehicles remotely. As with the other regulatory approvals in Beijing over the last year, Pony.ai is in the first batch of only two AV companies.


In addition to receiving the driverless permit in Beijing, Pony.ai is also currently testing fully driverless vehicles in Guangzhou, laying the groundwork for future driverless applications and commercial operations.

Over the past year, the Beijing Intelligent Connected Vehicle Policy Pilot Zone has announced a number of industry-leading autonomous driving policies in succession. In October 2021, the pilot zone opened up autonomous driving unmanned road tests for the first time and divided “autonomous” testing into three stages: 1) “nobody behind the steering wheel but with a safety operator in the passenger seat”, 2) “nobody in the front row, but with a safety operator in the back row”, and 3) “fully driverless”. The issuance of this permit represents that autonomous testing in Beijing has entered the third stage of “fully driverless”. To enter this third stage, AV test vehicles need to have met strict technical and operational requirements such as test mileage and disengagement rate; Pony.ai�s ten test vehicles successfully passed the tests without any safety issues.

This permit builds upon other recent autonomous driving milestones for Pony.ai in Beijing: in November 2022, Pony.ai received approval to test with a safety operator in the back seat of the car, without anyone in the front row (stage two of the three stages). In July 2022, Pony.ai received a permit to provide fare-charging robotaxi services with a safety driver in the passenger seat. In April 2022, Pony received a permit for non-fare charging robotaxi rides in Beijing and received a license to operate as a taxi service in Guangzhou, becoming the first and only AV company to receive a taxi license in China.

About Pony.ai

Leading global autonomous driving technology company Pony.ai, Inc. (“Pony.ai”) is pursuing an ambitious vision for autonomous mobility. We aim to bring safe, sustainable, and accessible mobility to the entire world. We believe that autonomous technology can make our roads exponentially safer for travelers. Founded in late 2016, Pony.ai has been a pioneer in extending autonomous mobility technologies and services at a rapidly expanding footprint of sites around the world. Pony.ai has formed partnerships with leading OEMs, including Toyota, SAIC, SANY, FAW Group, GAC Group, etc. To date, Pony.ai has driven over 12 million autonomous testing and operation miles worldwide.

Contacts

Adam Steinberg

Media@pony.ai

Alex

Recent Posts

JustMarkets Celebrates Key Milestones From 2024

HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM - Media OutReach Newswire - 24 December 2024 - JustMarkets…

1 hour ago

Thailand Shines at ACES Awards 2024: Celebrating Leadership, Sustainability, and Innovation Across Industries

BANGKOK, THAILAND - Media OutReach Newswire - 24 December 2024 - The Asia Corporate Excellence…

1 hour ago

China Focus: Technology sows seeds of hope in combating desertification

HOHHOT, CHINA - Media OutReach Newswire - 23 December 2024 - China's National Forestry and…

11 hours ago

Novautek Honored with the “Outstanding SME ESG and Business Performance Award”

HONG KONG SAR - EQS Newswire - 23 December 2024 - Novautek Autonomous Driving Limited…

13 hours ago

V-GREEN and Xanh SM Indonesia sign MoU with Lippo for comprehensive green ecosystem in Indonesia

JAKARTA, INDONESIA - Media OutReach Newswire - 23 December 2024 - V-GREEN and PT Xanh…

14 hours ago

Molex Anticipates Steady Growth in High-Speed Connectivity in 2025, Driving Electronics Design Innovations Across Diverse Industry Sectors

Increase in opportunities predicted for high-speed optical transceivers and miniaturized connectivity solutions to address data-intensive…

16 hours ago