Chinese language robotaxi operator Pony.ai mentioned on Wednesday that considered one of its vehicles caught fireplace whereas being dealt with by service employees after a system malfunction, however that no passengers have been onboard.
The car was working with no human driver on the highway on Tuesday morning when it confirmed an “irregular standing”, prompting the car’s security safety mechanism to provoke an emergency cease, Pony.ai mentioned.
“No collision occurred and nobody was injured. Service personnel arrived on the scene inside two minutes upon receiving the alert. Throughout the dealing with course of, the car caught fireplace,” it mentioned in an announcement.
“The particular trigger is presently below investigation.”
The incident may gasoline additional considerations over the security of autonomous driving in China. Chinese language regulators have lately moved to tighten the advertising and marketing and promotion of such options following a deadly accident involving a Xiaomi automobile that had been on autopilot mode.
One video posted on Chinese language social media on Wednesday confirmed plumes of black smoke billowing from a highway in Beijing as vehicles continued to drive within the reverse course on a 3 lane motor means.
Later, it confirmed emergency personnel placing out a hearth of a burnt out automobile that had mounted a highway divider. The poster of the video mentioned it belonged to Pony.ai. Different images and movies of the automobile posted on-line confirmed that it bore the brand of a Lexus, a luxurious automobile model of Japan’s Toyota which is a backer of Pony.ai.
Reuters was unable to independently confirm the social media posts and it was unclear from the movies and images posted on-line which Lexus mannequin it was.
Qingdao metropolis’s radio and tv station printed an interview on Wednesday with an unidentified Beijing site visitors police officer who mentioned that the Pony.ai automobile caught fireplace when the engine was ignited for a restart.
Pony.ai didn’t instantly reply to a request for additional remark. Toyota didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
China has for years been encouraging progress in autonomous driving know-how and has granted robotaxi operators together with Pony.ai and Baidu permits to deploy robotaxis with out people within the driving seat on some open Chinese language roads.
Final 12 months, an incident in San Francisco involving a crowd setting on fireplace an autonomous Waymo robotaxi which had pushed into streets crowded with revellers sparked a debate in regards to the means of robotic vehicles to make judgments. (Reporting by Zhang Yan and Brenda Goh. Further reporting by Daniel Leussink in Tokyo. Modifying by Mark Potter)
