Pony.ai Plans To Launch Robotaxi Service In California In 2022

Chinese startup Pony.ai which is a robotaxi start has started testing driverless cars on the public roads of California with the intent of launching a robotaxi service in 2022. The startup is currently testing driverless cars which are operating without human safety drivers daily on roads in Fremont and Milpitas. At the same time, it is also testing driverless cars in Guangzhou in China. It also has plans to resume its ride-share service in the public in Irvine using its autonomous vehicles with a human safety driver with the goal of launching the service in 2022 without a driver.

"Going completely driverless is key to achieving full autonomy and an indispensable catalyst to realizing our ambitious vision," said James Peng, CEO and co-founder of Pony.ai.

Regulatory hurdles are going to be a challenge for the startup, especially in the US for it to operate commercially. Autonomous vehicles which want to charge the public for driverless rides need permits from both the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and the California Public Utilities Commission.

The start-up is amongst 8 companies in California that have received a permit from the CPU commission

So far only GM backed Cruise has received the driverless autonomous service permit from the California Public Utilities Commission that allows it to test transporting passengers. Nuro has gone one step further as it also has the permit from the California DMV - a deployment permit.

This milestone for Pony.ai comes after the state issued the company a permit to test a fleet of six driverless cars in a geographic area that spans around 38 square miles. A total of 55 companies have permits to test autonomous vehicles with a safety driver, though not many have managed to get a permit for driverless vehicles. It was the eighth company to be issued a driverless testing permit in the state which includes Chinese companies like AutoX, Apollo by Baidu, WeRide and US-based players like GM's Cruise, Alphabet's Waymo, Amazon-owned Zoox and Nuro. Nuro is the most further along from a regulatory perspective.

Pony.ai is backed by Toyota having raised $400 million from the Japanese giants. It has established partnerships with Toyota, Hyundai and GAC.