Autonomous Trucks
Pony.ai Receives Green Light to Run Autonomous Freight Business in GuangzhouDing Yi / May 12, 2021 07:20 PM / Business & TechAttempts by Pony.ai to promote the use of its self-driving technology in cargo transportation appear to be paying off. On Tuesday, the Toyota-backed startup — which already operates pilot robotaxi services in China and the U.S. — said on social media that its smart logistics subsidiary has obtained a license to conduct commercial autonomous freight operations in Nansha district in the southern Chinese megacity of Guangzhou, a major test location for China’s driverless vehicle services. In March this year, the company unveiled its truck business brand PonyTron. Compared with passenger vehicles, trucks are seen as low-hanging fruit in the push to make money from self-driving technology because they tend to operate in less complex road conditions such as on highways. Contact reporter Ding Yi (yiding@caixin.com)Related: Pony.ai Works with Luminar to Build Lidar-Powered Sensing System for Driverless Cars