Pony.ai Granted permission for autonomous driving truck platoon tests in Beijing
TapTechNews May 23rd news, recently, Pony.ai has been the first batch in Beijing to be permitted to conduct autonomous driving truck platoon driving tests. This is another platoon autonomous driving test license obtained by Pony.ai after obtaining the first autonomous driving truck platoon driving test license in Guangzhou last November.
TapTechNews learned from the official that Pony.ai will conduct 1+N platoon autonomous driving tests on sections such as the Beijing-Tianjin-Tanggu Expressway to provide support for large-scale autonomous driving freight services of bulk commodities, and the management rules support enterprises to explore a platoon mode of one lead vehicle plus up to five following vehicles (1+5).
According to the relevant management rules, currently, safety officers are required to be set in the main driving positions of both the front and rear vehicles of Pony.ai's autonomous driving truck platoon, and the subsequent policies will gradually and orderly promote the process from unmanned in the main driving to unmanned in the vehicle in the platooned rear vehicles.
In addition, as the Hebei section of the Beijing-Tianjin-Tanggu Expressway starts intelligent connected vehicle road tests and demonstration applications, and the cross-regional recognition of autonomous driving freight services on the entire section of the Beijing-Tianjin-Tanggu Expressway, the entire section of the Beijing-Tianjin-Tanggu Expressway can realize autonomous driving freight services.
TapTechNews learned from public information that in July 2021, Pony.ai obtained the Beijing autonomous driving truck test notice and expressway test notice, and completed the first domestic public expressway test of autonomous driving trucks in December 2021. Pony.ai reached a strategic cooperation with Sinotrans in December 2021 and established a joint venture company, Qingzhi Logistics. In September 2023, Pony.ai was the first to be permitted to start intelligent connected heavy truck demonstration applications in Beijing.