Cruise Resumes Bay Area Testing
Cruise is launching manual mapping vehicles in Sunnyvale and Mountain View, California to augment their AV technology. Later in the fall, the company will start supervised testing with up to five AVs in the area. This initiative is vital as Cruise works with California regulators and local communities to rebuild trust and improve their self-driving technology—and to let local Cruise employees to interact directly with the product.
Mercedes Drive Pilot Top Speed Rises
Mercedes-Benz is reworking their Drive Pilot L3 ADS to support speeds of up to 95 km/h on German highways. The upgrade, set to roll out in early 2025, will be offered free of charge to existing customers. The system remains priced at €5,950 for new customers, including tax. This will make Drive Pilot the world’s fastest L3 system in a series-production vehicle.
XPeng X9 Variant Has Two Lidars, Guided Pilot Tech
The new Xpeng X9 610 Max has been launched in China. Unlike the base model, the 610 Max features two lidar sensors to enable XPeng’s Navigation Guided Pilot (XNGP), which the maker calls some of the most advanced self-driving technology on the market. The decision to add lidar is in contrast to Xpeng’s decision to put a pure-vision system on their new P7+, following Tesla’s notorious refusal to use lidar. The X9 610 Max starts at C¥379,800 (~$54,000)
Ji Yue 07 Orders Open, With Baidu Apollo L4-Capable Self Driving Tech
Ji Yue, the automotive brand build by Baidu and Geely, has released version 2.0 of their software. It is set to debut in the Ji Yue 07, which started pre-sales at the same time—priced from C¥215,900 (USD $31,000). The highlight of this software upgrade is the transition from PPA (point-to-point autopilot) to ASD (Apollo Self Driving) ‘intelligent driving’, which signals Ji Yue’s venture into the era of end-to-end large models for advanced vision-based smart driving makes them the world’s first auto brand to implement Baidu’s Apollo ADFM L4 autonomous driving large model—the only such brand in China, and one of two in the world to achieve this level of high-level visual-only autonomous driving capability.
Planzer, Loxo Launch Autonomous Delivery Vehicle in Europe
Planzer and Loxo have announced the first autonomous L4 commercial vehicle operating in Bern, Switzerland. Called Planzer – Dynamic Micro-Hub with Loxo, the idea is to revolutionize city logistics by using Loxo’s digital navigation system. Over a two-year pilot period in Bern, the project aspires to cut emissions, streamline delivery routes, and illustrate the future of sustainable urban transport.
WeRide Starts Paid-Ride Robobus Operation in China
WeRide, in partnership with Hengqin Guangdong-Macao authorities and Zhuhai Da Heng Qin Technology Development, has launched the first commercial autonomous shuttle buses in Hengqin. The company received approval to conduct regular road tests of robobuses without safety operators or steering wheels, under remote high-level autonomous driving conditions, paving the way for fully unmanned operations.
Ontime Starts Commercial Robotaxi Operations
Ontime, the mobility service platform supported by GAC Group, received approval to demonstrate ‘intelligent’ connected vehicles in the Hengqin Guangdong-Macao Cooperation Zone. By 31 December 2023, their robotaxi fleet had reached 281 vehicles, becoming the largest among Chinese ride-hailing platforms, with 20,080 operational hours, 545 pick-up/drop-off locations, and 450,699 kilometers of safe test operations.
Lynk & Co Z10 Allowed for L3 Road Tests
Lynk & Co has obtained an L3 autonomous driving test license for their Z10 car in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province. The Z10 achieved a flawless score across five categories and numerous test scenarios during the licensing test. The Z10 is available in five variants, with promotional prices ranging from C¥ 196,800 to 288,800 (USD $28,000 to $41,000).
Pony Starts Testing AVs on New Guangzhou Expressways
Pony.ai, holders of the first ICV expressway testing permit in Guangzhou, has started autonomous driving tests on the region’s eight new expressways, totaling about 158 kilometers. Currently, Guangzhou has 933 testing roads open, with a total one-way distance of approximately 1,980 kilometers, including over 260 kilometers of expressways, leading the nation. Pony received their ICV expressway testing permit this past May.
Monet AVs Arrive in Tokyo
Money Technologies, a joint venture involving SoftBank, Toyota, and other Japanese companies, will soon introduce an autonomous mobility service in Tokyo Waterfront City. This service will use L2 self-driving technology, wherein a human driver must be present and vigilant, ready to take control as needed. Two Toyota Sienna minivans will be used, with a maximum speed of 40 km/h (25 mph).
Isuzu Seeks L4 Launch
Isuzu is partnering with Applied Intuition to roll out L4 models in Japan and North America by late this decade. Facing a driver shortage and new work-hour limits in Japan, Isuzu has invested $30m in US-based Gatik to develop an autonomous truck chassis, aiming for a 2027 launch.
KargoBot, Hengtongyuan in JV for L4 trucking
Cooperation between KargoBot and Hengtongyuan aims to advance the application of L4 autonomous trucking convoys in trunk logistics across Xinjiang and the broader Northwest region of China.
KargoBot has developed an innovative convoy system targeting large-scale logistics in regions with fixed routes and high demand for cost reduction and efficiency improvements. In October 2023, KargoBot started regular operations on multiple routes in Xinjiang. As of this past August, KargoBot’s autonomous convoys have accumulated over 8.2 million kilometers of operation, and have transported 55 million ton-kilometers of cargo, significantly surpassing industry benchmarks.
