Beijing, November 8, 2017
In a report from the Press Trust of India (PTI), China has developed its first full electric self-driving buses which can travel on a single charge. The government has already tested the vehicle at a factory located in the Hubei Province, which is in central China. It plans to deploy the vehicles later this month.
The buses are 6.7 metres long and can carry 25 passengers, running at a maximum speed of 40 kmph. They can switch from manual driver operation to self driving mode and come equipped with energy saving features. The buses need to be charged only once and can run for 150 km.
The state-run Xinhua news agency reported that the vehicles will be tested on the road after being sent to Shenzhen in the Guangdong province. The report also mentioned that the motor and key parts of the bus are expected to last for over 1.2 million km without failure.
The buses are expected to be put into use in as yet unconfirmed areas at the end of November, said the provincial economy and information technology commission.
The buses were jointly developed by Hubei-based automaker the Dongfeng Xiangyang Touring Car Company Ltd and the Beijing Institute of Technology, the commission said.