What’s new: Chinese autonomous driving startup WeRide won approval to test self-driving vehicles on the roads nationwide in the United Arab Emirates.
The Middle Eastern nation granted its first national-level autonomous driving license to WeRide, Vice President and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Rashid said Monday.
With the license, WeRide will be able to carry out various road tests and operations of autonomous vehicles in the UAE. The company’s current portfolio of autonomous driving products includes robotaxis, self-driving mini-buses and freight and sanitation vehicles.
WeRide focuses on level-4 autonomous driving, which allows a car to run without human intervention under most circumstances.
Background: The license approval is part of the UAE’s efforts to revolutionize the country’s transport system with clean energy vehicles and autonomous driving solutions.
Dubai, the most populous city in the UAE, unveiled a plan to make 25% of its transportation fully autonomous by 2030. Cruise, the autonomous vehicle company backed by General Motors and Honda, signed an agreement with Dubai to test its robotaxis in the kingdom this year.
WeRide has partnered with the UAE in developing self-driving taxi fleets since 2021 in the capital of Abu Dhabi. The company was backed by the China-UAE Investment Cooperation Fund in its latest funding round in January 2022, which gave the company a valuation of $4.4 billion.
Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simison (bob.simison@caixin.com)
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