Pony.ai autonomous vehicles Archives - Gizmochina

Baidu & Pony.AI get China’s first commercial driverless robotaxi permits

Jed John Ikoba — Fri, 29 Apr 2022 10:05:32 +0000

Baidu and Pony.ai are two Chinese companies that have been blazing the trail in their various segments over the years. The two companies have now reached another milestone in China with their acquisition of commercial driverless robotaxi permits. They are the first companies to be issued permits to provide driverless ride-hailing services on open roads in Beijing. Previous permits relate to testing the self-driving vehicles without a safety driver in the vehicle.

China has seen a raft of self-driving services in several cities across the country. This is however the first time that any company will be allowed to run a fully driverless service on public roads. The permit however requires a safety operator in the front of the autonomous vehicle, unlike what obtains in California. The new permits to internet giant Baidu and autonomous vehicle company Pony.ai seem to be a further step in the evolution of driverless car-hailing. Both companies will not be collecting payments for the service.

Baidu and Pony.ai are currently running commercial robotaxis with a safety driver in the Beijing High-Level Automated Driving Demonstration Area (BJHAD). This is an area of about 60 sq. km with up to 300,000 residents. The two companies have said that the new service will run within the BJHAD. Ten and four driverless vehicles will be deployed for the new service by Baidu and Pony.ai respectively. Baidu already has up to 100 vehicles in its Apollo Go fleet in the area. The time for the service is 10 am-4 pm for Baidu and 9 am-5 pm for Pony.ai. Users can use the respective apps to hail the service and hundreds of drop-off/pickup locations will be on the route.

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Aftermath of a driverless car crash – California suspends Pony.ai’s driverless testing permit

Jed John Ikoba — Wed, 15 Dec 2021 11:53:04 +0000

Toyota-backed Chinese autonomous driving company, Pony.ai had one of its driverless vehicles in California involved in a crash due to a possible misreading of the road markings. The driverless car crashed into a road center divider and this has seemingly resulted in the suspension of Pony.ai’s driverless testing permit in California with immediate effect.

The suspension of Pony.ai’s driverless testing permit came a few weeks after the collision of the driverless car which fortunately did not result in any injuries or damage to other vehicles. The crash happened in October while the suspension was made last month after the accident report was filed with the regulator. It is unclear what aspect of the crash report is directly linked with the suspension of the driverless permit. Pony.ai in a statement said that it will work with the state regulator to figure out what caused the crash.

Pony.ai will however continue testing the vehicles in California with a safety driver behind the wheels. The suspended driverless permit was only valid for three cities in California and it was obtained about 6 months ago. California is a fertile ground for autonomous vehicle testing permits and eight companies had already secured the driverless permit in the state. It is unclear what is the duration of the suspension, but Pony.ai will continue to develop its driverless capability.

Chinese startup Pony.ai gets the nod to start testing its driverless vehicles in California

Jed John Ikoba — Mon, 24 May 2021 14:21:32 +0000

The US state of California has granted permission to Chinese firm Pony.ai to carry out a pilot run of its driverless vehicles in three cities in the state. Six Pony’s autonomous vehicles will be allowed without a safety driver at the wheels in Fremont, Milpitas, and Irvine, within designated roads in these cities.

The permit was issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles, which is the statutory regulator for issues relating to autonomous vehicle testing on public roads. The new permit is an extension of the earlier permit already granted to Pony.ai since 2017 when it started testing autonomous vehicles with a safety driver behind the wheel in California. The vehicles will operate on roads with speed limits below 45 miles per hour, and testing will commence first in Fremont and Milpitas on weekdays between 10 am and 3 pm, while the city of Irvine will follow suit later.

Some stringent conditions must be met before companies are granted these permits, and any collisions or crashes involving these driverless vehicles must be reported to the regulator within 10 days. In addition, the company will submit an annual report of disengagements to the Department of Motor Vehicles before re-issuance of the permit. There is also the tiny requirement to provide evidence of insurance or a bond of $5 million.

Currently, more than 50 companies have active permits to test autonomous vehicles with a safety driver in different cities in California. Pony.ai joins a growing list of companies that have active permits to test driverless vehicles in California without a safety driver. There are currently eight companies with such permits, including Baidu, AutoX, WeRide, Cruise, Nuro, and Zoox, although only one of these companies (Nuro) has a permit to operate commercial services.

Since 2016 when Pony.ai began operations, it has continued to expand in its scope of operations, attracting investments from important quarters. This has seen the company come out stronger this year as it continues to evolve new partnerships and collaborations with automakers and suppliers. Pony.ai’s agnostic virtual driver system could be applied to vehicles of all sizes and purposes and could provide a revolutionary approach to driverless technology.

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