Beijing opens its streets to autonomous vehicles; The Chinese capital adopted new rules on December 31 aimed at promoting the growth of fleets of driverless cars. Autonomous vehicles that pass safety tests and evaluations will be allowed to apply for test drives, the Beijing Daily newspaper reported, adding that the regulations will take effect from April 1.
Beijing, which supports the use of autonomous vehicles for individuals, urban buses, trams and taxis, also wants to encourage the construction of intelligent road infrastructure to support this type of transport.
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In a separate notice issued on December 31, the central Chinese city of Wuhan said it had approved regulations to promote the development of intelligent connected vehicles.
Projects in 19 Chinese cities
Booming autonomous driving technology is being boosted by Chinese authorities, with robotaxi and robobus trials in at least 19 Chinese cities, Reuters reported in August. Among the companies that use large fleets of robotaxis in China, Apollo Go, a subsidiary of the technology giant Baiduplans to deploy 1,000 robotaxis in Wuhan by the end of 2024. Pony.ai, which entered the US market in November, also plans to expand its robotaxis fleet throughout China to reach more than 1,000 vehicles by 2026, compared to 250 this year. WeRide, AutoX and SAIC Motor are also exploring the possibilities offered by robotaxis in China, the largest automobile market in the world.
American electric vehicle giant Tesla also intends to introduce full autonomous driving in China in the first quarter of 2025, subject to regulatory approval, and is expected to produce its own robotaxis in 2026.
With Reuters (Qiaoyi Li and Brenda Goh; French version Etienne Breban, edited by Kate Entringer)
Source: www.usinenouvelle.com
