AutoX, a China-based autonomous vehicle startup which is backed by Alibaba Group, has today confirmed that it has started testing the fully driverless vehicles in China with Pacifica minivans from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (FCA).
The company will be deploying a fleet of 25 driverless vehicles in Shenzhen and five more in other cities to test the technology. AutoX has modified a number of vehicles from various manufacturers and tested them in Shenzhen, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan, and Wuhu.
Earlier this year, in July, AutoX became the second company to test a passenger vehicle on California’s public roads without a safety driver sitting on the front seat. The first company to do so was Alphabet Inc’s Waymo.
AutoX has said that the company will not have a remote center. It’s competitors, WeRide and Baidu, which are also testing driverless vehicles in China, uses a remote center that can take control of the vehicle if and when needed.
The company is pursuing the so-called level 4 autonomous driving standard. In this, a vehicle can handle all aspects of driving in most possible circumstances without the need for human intervention.
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Vehicles of AutoX are equipped with the startup’s proprietary vehicle control unit called XCU, which the company claims have faster processing speed and more computational capability to handle complex road scenarios.
Xiao Jianxiong, Chief Executive Officer of the company had revealed last month that the company is currently in talks with prospective investors to fund fleet expansion and development plans. However, he has not shared more details about this.
Apart from Alibaba, the company is also backed by Dongfeng Motor Group and SAIC Motor Corp. So far, it has raised more than 160 million in five funding rounds, the latest being Series B raised in December last year.
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