Driverless vehicle makes historic debut in National Games torch relay

The Guangzhou leg of the 15th National Games torch relay achieved a historic milestone on Nov 2 – marking the first-ever participation of a driverless vehicle in the relay.

An Aion Robotaxi, equipped with Pony.ai's seventh-generation autonomous driving system, flawlessly escorted the sacred flame lamp with zero errors, maintaining stable and reliable performance throughout the journey from Yuexiu Park to Guangzhou Gymnasium.

The vehicle is equipped with 34 sensors capable of detecting objects within a 650-meter range. It also features a self-developed vehicle-grade domain controller, which triples computing efficiency. With 100 percent vehicle-grade components, the system boasts a design lifespan of 600,000 kilometers and a 70 percent reduction in cost, laying a solid foundation for large-scale application.

Mo Luyi, vice president of Pony.ai, stated that this achievement demonstrates the maturity of autonomous driving technology. As the first company in China to launch driverless ride-hailing services in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, Pony.ai has accumulated over 55 million km of autonomous driving testing mileage.

During the National Games, the next-generation Robotaxi will be deployed in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, with multiple demonstration routes launched to serve the event.

Robotaxi drives on the road. [Photo/WeChat account: nanshafabu]