China’s WeRide Unveils Level 4 Self-Driving Cargo Van
October 15, 2021
Autonomous driving company WeRide has unveiled the WeRide Robovan, the first Level 4 self-driving cargo van in China. The company said it will work with Jiangling Motors (JMC) and ZTO Express in a strategic agreement to promote mass production and commercialization of the vehicle. The companies will create an autonomous driving ecosystem for China’s urban logistics.
Combining the three companies’ expertise in technology, product innovation and commercialization, they will jointly undertake Robovan’s commercial pilot operations, and explore the upgrading of urban logistics. The companies will design purpose-built models for mass production on JMC’s customized assembly lines, while ZTO Express will acquire Robovans in their urban logistics usage.
Robovan is the third autonomous driving (AD) product in the WeRide family, in addition to Robotaxi and Mini Robobus. The design is based on JMC’s battery electric vehicle model with a fully redundant vehicle platform, and WeRide’s full-stack software and hardware solutions. The van will offer all-weather, around-the-clock service on urban roads with leading Level 4 autonomous driving capabilities.
After running a publicly accessible Robotaxi service for almost two years, WeRide said it gained valuable experiences on product development and self-driving fleet operations. The company added that it is confident that Robovan will be able to operate in a stable, safe and efficient manner under different circumstances, including urban traffic scenarios in villages, tunnels and highways.
“WeRide has always emphasized that AD technologies should be used effectively in reality to serve the society,” said Tony Han, the founder and CEO of WeRide. “With the introduction of Robovan, the very first L4 self-driving cargo van in China, we have heralded a new era of autonomous driving for urban logistics in the country. By teaming up with two key players in the sector, Jiangling Motors and ZTO Express, we continue to uphold the ‘triangle model’ of collaborating, an approach which WeRide has adopted since we developed passenger vehicles. We are aiming to deliver both smart mobility and smart logistics for cities in the future.”
For more details on WeRide, visit the company’s website here.
