A Pony.ai robotaxi drives on a public street in a suburb in southern Beijing on July 11, 2024.
China Information Service | China Information Service | Getty Pictures
BEIJING — Within the newest step towards constructing a revenue-generating robotaxi enterprise, Chinese language start-up Pony.ai mentioned it has obtained China’s first allow to cost fares for totally driverless taxis in core components of a enterprise district of Shenzhen.
Town is a coastal tech hub in southern China, typically dubbed the nation’s Silicon Valley.
The license permits Pony.ai to cost fares for rides — with none human employees inside — in key components of the district of Nanshan, residence to tech giants Tencent and DJI. The allow doesn’t cowl journeys throughout your entire house, limiting it to areas such because the monetary sub-district.
Pony.ai has already operated robotaxis in components of a neighboring Shenzhen district and may run taxis with human employees inside on routes that connect with the Shenzhen worldwide airport and Shenzhen Bay Checkpoint on the border with Hong Kong.
Whereas Pony.ai didn’t disclose what number of robotaxis it may function within the Shenzhen area, the corporate mentioned the driverless vehicles may run every day from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. native time.
Residents can e-book the robotaxi rides by way of Pony.ai’s app or a mini-program contained in the WeChat messaging app, in response to a press launch.
Pony.ai additionally operates robotaxis in components of the main Chinese language cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, for a complete of greater than 250 vehicles throughout the nation as of late November.
In late 2021, native authorities in Beijing began permitting Baidu’s Apollo Go and Pony.ai to cost fares for robotaxis in a southern suburb of town.
In mid-March, Pony.ai additionally mentioned it was the primary firm to launch a paid robotaxi route from the suburb to Beijing South Railway Station. Customers should reserve the trip a day upfront, and a human employees employee should sit within the driver’s seat, in response to present rules.
Pony.ai this week reported “a major enhance” in passenger fares within the fourth quarter from a yr in the past, with out disclosing precise figures. However the firm mentioned its general income from robotaxi companies fell by practically 61.9% year-on-year to $2.6 million within the fourth quarter because of lowered service charges for autonomous car engineering options. It additionally famous its income from robotruck companies rose by 72.7% year-on-year to $12.9 million because of the growth of its robotruck fleet.
