China has granted its first Level 3 autonomous driving permits for regular passenger vehicles, marking a major policy breakthrough in the smart driving sector.
China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) announced today that it has approved two L3 autonomous driving models: one from Changan Automobile (SHE: 000625) and another from Arcfox, the electric vehicle (EV) unit of Beijing Automotive Group (BAIC Group).
The Changan model is a pure electric sedan — with model number SC7000AAARBEV –approved for autonomous driving on highways and urban expressways within single lanes during traffic congestion, with a maximum speed of 50 km/h.
Currently, this functionality is restricted to select sections within Chongqing, including the Inner Ring Expressway, New Inner Ring Expressway, and Yudu Avenue.
The Arcfox model is also a pure electric sedan — registered as BJ7001A61NBEV — capable of autonomous driving on single lanes of highways and urban expressways at speeds up to 80 km/h.
Currently, this feature is only available on select sections of Beijing’s Jingtai Expressway, Airport North Expressway, and Daxing Airport Expressway.
BAIC subsequently announced that the approved Arcfox model is the Alpha S sedan. Changan’s SC7000AAARBEV, meanwhile, is the SL03 under its Deepal sub-brand.
Some robotaxi companies have introduced models supporting Level 4 autonomous driving, though such licenses are issued by transportation authorities.
According to the announcement, the MIIT had organized expert teams to conduct testing and safety assessments. Both automakers have completed and passed the required product testing and safety evaluations.
These two automakers will use the models to conduct on-road pilot programs on designated sections. The MIIT said it will further improve the access management and regulatory standards for intelligent connected vehicles.
This marks China’s first issuance of Level 3 autonomous driving permits for conventional passenger vehicles. Previously, such vehicles were only permitted to market their capabilities up to Level 2.
According to a definition released by China in March 2022, Level 2 autonomous driving capability is termed “combined driver assistance,” where the driver remains responsible for all potential accidents.
Level 3, also known as “conditionally automated driving,” involves the system continuously performing all dynamic driving tasks within its designed operating conditions. The driver remains responsible for potential accidents.
Notably, over the past two years, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, IM Motors, Arcfox, Changan Deepal, BYD (HKG: 1211, OTCMKTS: BYDDY), Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO, HKG: 9866), and Zeekr (NYSE: ZK) had announced obtaining L3 autonomous driving test licenses in certain cities.
This article was first published by Phate Zhang on CnEVPost, a website focusing on new energy vehicle news from China.
