In February, WeRide launched its GXR robotaxi, which options L4 redundant drive-by-wire chassis structure, open cellular journey house, and the world’s first hidden B-pillar design. | Supply: WeRide
Uber and WeRide, a Chinese language autonomous automobile (AV) developer, are deepening their partnership. Uber will make investments an extra $100 million into WeRide, based on a latest regulatory submitting, and produce WeRide’s expertise to fifteen extra cities over the following 5 years.
“We’re excited to take our partnership with Uber to new heights. Increasing into new cities throughout a number of continents displays each corporations’ confidence in our expertise and our shared dedication to modern, sustainable transportation options,” mentioned Tony Han, founder and CEO of WeRide. “This growth aligns with WeRide’s bold technique for world progress – to make autonomous driving options extra reasonably priced and accessible to individuals worldwide.”
This growth follows WeRide’s AV launch in Abu Dhabi. Already, the corporate plans to launch a service in Dubai quickly, with new cities in Europe to comply with. WeRide mentioned it plans to launch companies in a number of new cities every year, all outdoors of the U.S. and China. To this point, the U.S. and China have been leaders in AV deployments, with Alphabet’s Waymo main the cost right here.
Just like Uber’s partnership with Waymo, WeRide’s robotaxi companies will likely be accessible by the Uber app. Uber will deal with fleet operations, whereas WeRide will likely be chargeable for the expertise powering the service.
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WeRide goals to deliver robotaxis to Europe
WeRide has principally gained traction deploying its AV expertise in China. There, the corporate has launched companies in Beijing, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Ordos, and Suzhou. Moreover, it has partnered with Dubai’s Highway and Transport Authority (RTA).
As a part of the settlement, Uber and RTA will collaborate on pilot packages, leveraging Uber’s expertise to match riders with AVs whereas guaranteeing a seamless and user-friendly expertise. The partnership may also discover knowledge insights, security protocols, and regulatory frameworks to assist a easy transition to autonomous mobility in Dubai.
This 12 months, WeRide plans to launch its totally unmanned Robotaxi operations in Zurich, Switzerland. It already operates a Robobus autonomous shuttle service on the Zurich Airport in partnership with Flughafen Zürich AG and Swiss Transit Lab.
“At present’s announcement – one of many greatest partnerships of its type ever introduced – is a major milestone in the direction of realizing the promise of autonomous mobility in additional locations world wide,” mentioned Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber. ”By leveraging Uber’s world scale, operational experience, and main market expertise, we’re thrilled to accomplice with cutting-edge AV corporations like WeRide to assist them commercialize their automobiles and produce the advantages of autonomy to extra riders.”
In October, WeRide was listed on the Nasdaq World Choose Market underneath the ticker image “WRD.” The firm mentioned it anticipated to boost $458.5 million from the general public itemizing. Established in 2017, WeRide gives autonomous driving techniques starting from SAE Stage 2 to Stage 4. It has performed analysis and improvement, testing, and operations throughout 30 cities in seven international locations.
