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 a further $100 million into WeRide, in keeping with a latest regulatory submitting, and convey WeRide’s know-how 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 firms’ confidence in our know-how and our shared dedication to progressive, sustainable transportation options,” mentioned Tony Han, founder and CEO of WeRide. “This growth aligns with WeRide’s formidable technique for world development – to make autonomous driving options extra reasonably priced and accessible to folks 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 providers in a number of new cities annually, 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 providers can be obtainable by means of the Uber app. Uber will deal with fleet operations, whereas WeRide can be chargeable for the know-how powering the service.
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WeRide goals to carry robotaxis to Europe
WeRide has largely gained traction deploying its AV know-how in China. There, the corporate has launched providers in Beijing, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Ordos, and Suzhou. Moreover, it has partnered with Dubai’s Street and Transport Authority (RTA).
As a part of the settlement, Uber and RTA will collaborate on pilot packages, leveraging Uber’s know-how to match riders with AVs whereas guaranteeing a seamless and user-friendly expertise. The partnership may even discover information insights, security protocols, and regulatory frameworks to assist a clean transition to autonomous mobility in Dubai.
This 12 months, 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.
“Right now’s announcement – one of many greatest partnerships of its variety ever introduced – is a major milestone in direction of realizing the promise of autonomous mobility in additional locations all over the world,” mentioned Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber. ”By leveraging Uber’s world scale, operational experience, and main market know-how, we’re thrilled to associate with cutting-edge AV firms 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 underneath the ticker image “WRD.” The firm mentioned it anticipated to boost $458.5 million from the general public itemizing. Established in 2017, WeRide supplies 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.
