Page 12 - EE Times Europe Magazine - June 2025

12 EE|Times EUROPE

AUTONOMOUS DRIVING | PILOTS AND DEPLOYMENTS
WeRide’s Robobus Reaches Barcelona as

Level 4 Ambitions Accelerate

By Rebecca Pool
The AV company is ramping up global deployment of its driverless fleet, aiming to
accelerate full-scale commercialization of autonomous driving.

In March, WeRide and the Renault Group offered a free robobus trial service in Barcelona’s city center to showcase how they could
provide autonomous mobility to European cities aspiring to carbon neutrality and low-emission zones. (Source: WeRide)
his spring, China-based autonomous driving tech developer of autonomous driving. From the outset, the pair focused on deploying
WeRide and the Renault Group of France tested a Level 4 purpose-built Level 4 autonomous vehicles in controlled environ-
autonomous minibus across a 2.2-km circular route in ments, gathering real-world driving data along the way. The robotaxi
T Barcelona, Spain. With a top speed of 40 km/h and able to carry came first and was built on a flexible platform of software and modular
up to 10 passengers, the driverless robobus has also reached roads in hardware, designed to extend to other self-driving vehicle types. The
Valence, France, and at Zurich Airport. robovan, robosweeper, and robobus soon followed.
But as WeRide CEO Tony Han told EE Times Europe, “The “Our WeRide One platform integrates smart models, software algo-
[Barcelona] service really showcased the maturity and potential of rithms, modular hardware, and a cloud-based infrastructure, forming
automated transport technologies in a dense and complex urban the backbone of our fleet operating on public roads,” Han said.
environment.”
Given WeRide’s roots in China, it’s no surprise that robobus road
trials began there in 2022—in frenetic Guangzhou, one of the nation’s
largest cities and home to the company’s headquarters. Since then,
trials have expanded to more than 30 cities across China, as well as
Singapore.
The robobus rollouts are a follow-on to WeRide’s robotaxi activity.
The company started its passenger-hailing service in Guangzhou back
in 2019, and its autonomous cab now runs in other cities including
Beijing and UAE capital Abu Dhabi. Plans are also underway to roll out
robotaxi service in Switzerland.
“Our L4 autonomous vehicles are in urban villages in China with
congested and unpredictable road environments, as well as Heihe,
China, and Abu Dhabi, operating under temperatures of –25°C to 45°C
… with an accident-free track record,” Han said.

AN EYE ON LEVEL 4
Founded in 2017 by Han and chief technology officer Yan Li—who Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi (left) with WeRide CEO Tony Han.
together are well-versed in computer vision, machine learning, and The companies already operate together in Abu Dhabi and are
speech recognition—WeRide aims to accelerate the commercialization about to do the same in Dubai. (Source: WeRide)

JUNE 2025 | www.eetimes.eu