In February, WeRide launched its GXR robotaxi, which options L4 redundant drive-by-wire chassis structure, open cell journey area, and the world’s first hidden B-pillar design. | Supply: WeRide
Uber and WeRide, a Chinese language autonomous car (AV) developer, are deepening their partnership. Uber will make investments an extra $100 million into WeRide, in keeping with a latest regulatory submitting, and convey WeRide’s expertise to fifteen extra cities over the subsequent 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,” stated Tony Han, founder and CEO of WeRide. “This enlargement aligns with WeRide’s formidable technique for international development – to make autonomous driving options extra inexpensive and accessible to folks worldwide.”
This enlargement 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 observe. WeRide stated it plans to launch companies in a number of new cities every year, all exterior 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 shall be out there by means of the Uber app. Uber will deal with fleet operations, whereas WeRide shall be chargeable for the expertise powering the service.
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WeRide goals to convey robotaxis to Europe
WeRide has largely 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 will even discover information insights, security protocols, and regulatory frameworks to assist a clean transition to autonomous mobility in Dubai.
This yr, WeRide plans to launch its absolutely 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.
“As we speak’s announcement – one of many largest partnerships of its type ever introduced – is a big milestone in the direction of realizing the promise of autonomous mobility in additional locations around the globe,” stated Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber. ”By leveraging Uber’s international scale, operational experience, and main market expertise, we’re thrilled to companion with cutting-edge AV corporations like WeRide to assist them commercialize their automobiles and convey the advantages of autonomy to extra riders.”
In October, WeRide was listed on the Nasdaq International Choose Market beneath the ticker image “WRD.” The firm stated it anticipated to boost $458.5 million from the general public itemizing. Established in 2017, WeRide supplies autonomous driving methods starting from SAE Stage 2 to Stage 4. It has carried out analysis and improvement, testing, and operations throughout 30 cities in seven international locations.
