Pony.ai, based in California, was recently granted a driverless autonomous vehicle road test permit by the Beijing Intelligent Connected Vehicle Policy Pilot Zone, according to a press release. The permit will allow the company to deploy 10 driverless taxis in Yizhuang, Beijing.
“The issuance of this permit represents that autonomous testing in Beijing has entered the third stage of ‘fully driverless,’” the press release states. “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 10 test vehicles successfully passed the tests without any safety issues.”
Placed in a field that spans 20 square kilometers, the autonomous vehicle driverless test will be overseen remotely by a safety officer.
The launch joins a catalog of efforts and advancements made by Pony.ai to advance driverless autonomous vehicles, such as the approval it received to test the car with an operator in the backseat in November 2022, and its permit for non-fare charging robotaxi rides in April 2022, among others.
Pony.ai is the first of two AV companies to secure regulatory approvals in the country.
“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,” a recent press release explains.
Other existing autonomous driving policies in progress include the introduction of autonomous driving unmanned road tests and the division of "autonomous" testing into three stages.