BEIJING — WeRide, a Chinese autonomous vehicle startup, said on Friday it has become the first autonomous company to start fully driverless vehicle testing in China, as the world’s biggest auto market accelerates development of autonomous technologies.
Three-year-old WeRide, backed by Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi, said in a statement that it started tests on Wednesday on open roads in a designated area of Guangzhou after the southern Chinese city granted permission.
In China, companies such as Toyota-backed Pony.ai, Baidu Inc., and Didi Chuxing are also testing autonomous vehicles, but all with one or two safety staff onboard. The people onboard take control in unexpected situations.
WeRide said it will use a remote center to take control of vehicles if needed.
In the United States, Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo unit is testing passenger vehicles without a safety driver. Nuro, another startup, is allowed to test driverless delivery vehicles on a small scale in California.
WeRide is pursuing a level 4 autonomous standard, in which the car can handle all aspects of driving in most circumstances with no human intervention. It said its driverless testing fleet comprises 10 Lincoln MKZ sedans.