China's first L4 commercial autonomous NEV undergoes non-enclosed road testing

China's first L4 commercial autonomous new energy vehicle (NEV) is currently undergoing testing on non-enclosed roads in the city of Ordos, North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

The heavy-duty transport vehicle that is being tested is equipped with driving computers, all-round cameras, as well as perception devices such as laser radars and millimeter-wave radars.

As this vehicle undergoes testing, the driver transitions into a safety supervisor who observes the vehicle's autonomous driving status while "sitting idle" in the vehicle.

The transition from "enclosed" to "non-enclosed" roads presents higher technical requirements for this commercial autonomous NEV, as the road conditions are more challenging.

In addition to a series of autonomous driving devices equipped on the vehicle itself, the project will involve the construction of roadside equipment, such as integrated radar and vision units, road side units (RSU), and intelligent traffic lights along an 8-kilometer test route.

Furthermore, the project aims to enhance the perception and decision-making of roadside equipment, cloud control systems, and on-board systems.

"Based on 5G, big data, industrial internet, and other information technologies, we can ultimately achieve real-time perception, real-time positioning, high-precision mapping, real-time path planning, and vehicle-road coordination. This greatly enhances the safety, stability, and operational efficiency of commercial autonomous NEV on non-enclosed road sections," stated Cui Yang, a staff member of Ordos Zhineng Wanglian Technology Co.

Upon completion of the project's experiments, the 8-km road from the G7 Central Logistics Park to the Dalad Power Plant in Dalad Banner will become a demonstration route for cloud-coordinated intelligent networked commercial vehicles. This will drive the development of the banner's logistics industry towards "green and intelligent" directions.