Shanghai (ZXZC)- On May 23, Pony.ai, a global leading autonomous mobility solution provider, officially announced that it recently received approval to conduct platoon testing for autonomous trucks in Beijing. This follows the company's acquisition of its first autonomous truck platooning test license in Guangzhou last November, marking another milestone for the company in autonomous driving testing.

Photo credit: Pony.ai

Pony.ai stated that it is currently the only enterprise in China authorized to conduct autonomous truck platooning tests in two cities.

According to the announcement, Pony.ai will conduct "1+N" platoon tests on routes such as the Jingjintang Expressway. This will support large-scale autonomous freight services for bulk commodities, allowing the company to explore a convoy model where one lead truck is followed by up to five trailing trucks ("1+5" model).

As per the relevant regulations, Pony.ai's autonomous truck platoons must have safety operators in both the lead and trailing trucks. Future policies will gradually advance the transition from "without human on the driver’s seat" to "fully unmanned" for trailing trucks.

In April this year, Pony.ai, in partnership with Sinotrans and Sinotrans Logistics, officially launched real commercial freight services, achieving L4 autonomous heavy-duty truck logistics between Beijing and Tianjin. The initial batch of freight consisted mainly of fast-moving consumer goods.

Pony.ai stated that it will continue to explore autonomous truck logistics for both long-haul and dedicated routes. As of now, Pony.ai's autonomous trucks have accumulated over 5 million kilometers in testing distance, with more than 1.5 million kilometers in commercial logistics operations, transporting nearly 2,500 tonne-kilometers of goods.