“Wenyuan Xiaoba” starts operation
On January 7, 2022, WeRide, an autonomous driving technology company, held the “Wenyuan Xiaoba Robobus Operation Launch Ceremony” in Guangzhou.
Starting today, Guangzhou officially opens the operation of fully unmanned small buses in the International Biotech Island, providing unmanned micro-circulation public transport services for citizens.
“Wenyuan Xiaoba” is launched in cooperation with WeRide and Yutong Group. It adopts a pure electric vehicle model without a steering wheel, accelerator or brake. The front-loading mass-produced unmanned vehicle is equipped with WeRide’s autonomous driving solution, with a maximum speed of 40 kilometers per hour. It can meet the operation requirements of all scenarios and can provide services in open city roads, expressways, tunnels, peak congestion periods, rainy and snowy days and other circumstances.
International Biotech Island is located in the Huangpu District of Guangzhou. “Wenyuan Xiaoba” initially opened two operating lines, the south line and the north line. Subsequently, the west line will also be opened to further cover the entire island, providing free travel for enterprise employees and citizens visiting the island.
“Wenyuan Xiaoba” operates 7 days a week. Passengers can check the real-time location and operation status of the vehicle through the “WeRide Go” app, and also obtain riding guide and operation information by following “WeRide Go” WeChat public account.
In terms of safety measures, “Wenyuan Xiaoba” will convey relevant riding information to passengers through voice prompts and real-time road condition display screens. In the early stage of operation, volunteers will be equipped with the car. During the operation of the vehicle, WeRide’s remote support center will monitor the vehicle in real time. In case of emergency, passengers can stop the vehicle by pressing the emergency brake button in the car.
“Wenyuan Xiaoba” transported daily necessities and emergency supplies to residents in the Liwan lockdown area during the outbreak of the Guangzhou epidemic in June 2021, with more than 500 trips in 20 consecutive days, transporting more than 20,000 items. In addition, “Wenyuan Xiaoba” has completed more than a year of normalized testing in Guangzhou, Zhengzhou, Nanjing and other places. Since April 2021, it has been providing daily commuting services for WeRide employees on the Biotech Island, preparing for the official operation.
The commercialization of WeRide’s autonomous driving
Weride ai is the first company in China to carry out commercial operation of Robotaxi, with more than two years of experience in autonomous driving operation. On the open urban roads of Huangpu District and Guangzhou Development Zone, covering over 144 square kilometers, Weride ai Robotaxi has provided over 300,000 autonomous driving services. Weride ai also holds full driverless testing licenses in Guangzhou, China, and California, USA.
Currently, Weride ai has three product lines including Robotaxi, Robobus and Robovan, exploring the possibility of commercializing autonomous driving.
🔗Source: Weride ai official website
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.