Shanghai takes another step to push connected car road tests

China's first batch of car plates for road tests of connected cars was issued in Shanghai on Thursday, allowing vehicles to be test driven on a 5.6 kilometer-long road, which demonstrates the lead the city has taken in applying intelligent and connected car technologies across the country.

Two intelligent connected vehicles made their first open road test at the National Intelligent Connected Vehicle (Shanghai) Pilot Zone, China's first intelligent connected car demonstration area, on Thursday afternoon.

SAIC Motor Corp Ltd (SAIC Motor), the largest auto company on China's A-share market, and Shanghai-based electric car startup NextEV have received a total of three car plates for testing their intelligent connected cars.