Pony.ai | Taxi License: Robotaxi startup Pony.ai gains taxi license in China city

Beijing: Self-driving tech firm Pony.ai, backed by Toyota Motor Corp, stated on Sunday it has obtained a taxi license in China, which is able to permit a few of its driverless autos to begin charging fares.

The corporate stated it was the primary autonomous driving firm within the nation to take action.

The startup stated it was awarded the license to function 100 driverless autos within the Guangzhou metropolis district of Nansha.

Pony.ai final 12 months additionally gained approval to launch paid driverless robotaxi services in Beijing and has since begun providing rides.

In Beijing, nonetheless, rides are being supplied in a a lot smaller, industrial zone on a trial foundation, a Pony.ai spokesperson stated.

In response to the corporate’s assertion, in Nansha it can begin charging fares in the complete 800 sq. km of the district with driverless vehicles. Passengers can hail and pay for rides with Pony.ai’s personal app.

Pony.ai will initially deploy these vehicles with security drivers however expects to take away them “over the quick to intermediate timeframe,” it stated.

The announcement comes at a time when a bunch of startups are pouring billions of {dollars} into autonomous expertise, aiming to take an early lead in the way forward for mobility.

Pony.ai has been lively in the USA and China, testing its driverless expertise on public roads in California’s Fremont and Milpitas, in addition to the Chinese language cities of Guangzhou and Beijing.

In China, a bunch of native startups are competing. In current months, Momenta and automaker SAIC gained official approval for a trial for his or her robotaxi service in Shanghai’s Jiading district, a transfer that adopted the same transfer in Guangzhou by Nissan-baked Weride .

In Shenzhen, Alibaba-backed AutoX can be testing robotaxis – noticed by security drivers – in a extremely congested city space with plenty of pedestrian and moped visitors.

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