WeRide has also conducted simulations on its in-house developed platform, resulting in over 8 billion simulated test miles.

(Image credit: WeRide)

Chinese self-driving startup WeRide announced today that it has surpassed 10 million kilometers of self-driving miles on the open road, including more than 2.5 million fully unmanned miles.

The milestone was accumulated by its fleet of over 300 self-driving vehicles after more than four years of testing and operations in both China and the US, WeRide said, adding that this forms a large and high-quality library of scenarios.

WeRide's fleet includes Robotaxis, Robobuses, Robovans, laid out in cities including Guangzhou, Zhengzhou, Nanjing, Wuhan, Anqing in China and San Jose in the US, according to the company.

The vehicles are being tested and operated in a mix of scenarios covering day and night, tunnels and highways, hot, rainy and snowy weather, carrying people and cargo, the company said.

WeRide also conducted simulations on its in-house developed platform, resulting in more than 8 billion simulated test miles, the equivalent of 300 self-driving vehicles driving day and night on real roads for 50 years, it said.

These real-world road tests and simulations expand the coverage of scenarios, improve testing efficiency and shorten feature development and testing cycles, the company said.

Founded in 2017 and with global headquarters in Guangzhou, WeRide is a smart mobility company with L4-level autonomous driving technology.

In November 2019, WeRide launched China's first fully open Robotaxi operation service in Guangzhou, covering hundreds of square kilometers of core urban open roads in Huangpu District and Guangzhou Development Zone.

On October 16, 2021, WeRide unveiled its next-generation self-driving sensor suite with a lightweight design that allows for a significant reduction in both weight and size compared to its predecessor.

The product, WeRide Sensor Suite 4.0, is one-sixth the size of version 3.0 and occupies less than 0.4 square meters of the roof of the car, according to the company.

Chinese auto giant GAC Group announced on December 14 that it will invest $30 million in WeRide through its subsidiary.

The two will jointly promote the development and manufacturing of mass-produced Robotaxi models and gradually build a fleet of tens of thousands of Robotaxi vehicles over the next few years, GAC said, adding that the fleet will be centered in the Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau Bay Area and will enter other regions of China in the future.

On January 7, WeRide announced that it put its first self-driving Robobus into operation in Guangzhou, Guangdong province in southern China.

The vehicles, purely electric models built by WeRide and bus manufacturer Zhengzhou Yutong Group, have no steering wheel, accelerator pedal or brake pedal, according to the company.

WeRide puts self-driving buses without steering wheel or brake pedal into operation