Chinese robotaxis take the wheel in the Middle East

Chinese autonomous driving enterprises are making a collective push into the Middle Eastern market, forging a unique path by collaborating with local governments to advance end-to-end layouts from technical testing to commercial operation and partnering with major global platforms to speed up implementation.

In September, Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority, or RTA, issued its first permits for autonomous driving trials, granting three leading Chinese mobility companies — Pony.ai, WeRide and Baidu’s Apollo Go — the go-ahead to begin on-road testing of their self-driving fleets across urban Dubai, aiming to ensure safe operations and seamless adaptation to the city’s traffic conditions.

According to RTA officials, commercial operations are scheduled to commence early next year, in line with Dubai’s goal to convert 25 percent of all trips to self-driving transport modes by 2030.

“Operating autonomous taxis will enhance the quality of life for residents and visitors in Dubai, improve road safety, and offer greater convenience in daily mobility across the emirate,” said RTA Director General and Chairman Mattar Al Tayer. “It also supports our first and last mile strategy, improving access to and from public transport.”

Robotaxi is similar to an ordinary taxi service. Users need to log in to the app within the service area to confirm the destination, place an order, wait for the car, confirm the vehicle number upon arrival, and press “start” on the app after getting in the car to start the journey. Users can see the real-time route map in the car, and they can also watch movies, listen to music or even play games.

“The Chinese technology is game-changing because it left Europe and even the United States behind. China is … (enabling) more common people to use high-tech earlier than many developed countries,” said Ibrahem Al Mohammedy, an engineer in the United Arab Emirates who witnessed the autonomous vehicles at the Dubai World Congress for Self-Driving Transport, in September.

“The people in the Middle East will not be surprised to take a robotaxi because they have been hearing about it for so long. We are excited to see it happen.”

Robotaxis are considered by US-based chip giant Nvidia’s founder Jensen Huang to be one of the most important growth segments in the next 10 years. Goldman Sachs predicted that the global robotaxi market is expected to reach $40 billion to $45.7 billion by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of 60 percent.

James Peng, founder and CEO of Pony.ai, said, “Dubai’s robust transport infrastructure, supportive policy environment and public acceptance of emerging technologies give us confidence in promoting the large-scale adoption of autonomous driving technology. We are committed to accelerating the deployment of our robotaxi services in Dubai and across the broader Middle East market.”

At the September exhibition in Dubai, Pony.ai showcased its seventh-generation autonomous vehicle platform. This system features Level-4 autonomous technology, using advanced artificial intelligence and a suite of sensors, including lidars, radars and cameras, to navigate varied weather and road conditions.

Large-scale expansion

As the booming development of China’s electric vehicle industry has driven significant cost reductions in key components like lidars, Ann Shi, vice-president of strategy and business development at Pony.ai, said the bill of materials cost of their autonomous driving kit has been cut by nearly 70 percent.

“It has turned large-scale overseas expansion of Chinese mobility enterprises from a vision into quick actions,” she said while announcing a plan to deploy 1,000 robotaxis in the Middle East in the coming three years. “We hope that Chinese technology and standards can be promoted to the world.”

Founded in 2016 and with headquarters in Beijing and Guangzhou, Pony.ai has conducted more than 50 million kilometers of autonomous driving globally, according to the company’s public disclosures. It operates robotaxi services in complex traffic scenarios in cities such as Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shenzhen, developing solutions in virtual driver technology, hardware-software integration and fleet management.

“This ‘China-validated, globally adaptable’ capability enables us to capture the urgent demand for advanced technologies in city transformations across the Middle East. The countries (in the region) are actively advancing the upgrading of transportation infrastructure, offering an ideal platform for our technology implementation,” Shi said.

In recent years, the UAE has accelerated its adoption of self-driving technologies across multiple sectors, rolling out a series of policies and providing relevant support for enterprises’ R&D and testing.

Dubai’s neighboring emirate Abu Dhabi has been testing self-driving taxis on Yas and Saadiyat islands through partnerships with WeRide, setting a goal of having 25 percent of its daily transportation be smart and driverless by 2040.

The emirate last month became the first in the Middle East to roll out WeRide’s fully driverless commercial robotaxi service on Yas Island, a man-made destination home to numerous tourism projects. Without an onboard safety supervisor, the service uses WeRide’s van-type Robotaxi GXR, which features Level 4 autonomy.

“The UAE is in a key phase of industrial transformation and smart urban upgrading, with smart transportation regarded as a core direction for its future. Meanwhile, the country faces high local labor costs and a shortage of roles like drivers, creating a practical demand for the adoption of autonomous driving,” said Ryan Zhan, regional general manager for the Middle East and Africa at WeRide.

“Additionally, the UAE also is booming in sectors including tourism, logistics and public transport, and has a strong demand for safe, efficient and sustainable mobility solutions. Autonomous driving can not only ease labor shortage pressures, but also help the UAE achieve its strategic goals of smart cities and green transportation,” he added.

Similarly, Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 initiative aims for 15 percent of public transport vehicles to be autonomous by 2030 as part of a push for smart, sustainable cities. WeRide has said it would be expanding in Saudi Arabia, where it has been testing its vehicles in cities like Riyadh, adding that it expects commercial services to start late this year.

In May, WeRide entered the Saudi Arabian market, launching robotaxi tests and deployments in Riyadh and Al-Ula cities. Supported by the Saudi Transport General Authority, the company has been offering autonomous robotaxi passenger rides in Riyadh since October. It has also been testing its robobus in key locations, including King Fahad Medical City, and introduced the robosweeper S1 there, the region’s first monetized autonomous sanitation project.

Elsewhere in the region, Pony.ai partnered with Mowasalat “Karwa”, Qatar’s leading transport service provider, in September to introduce self-driving technology on Qatari roads.

“The Middle East and similar markets already have the infrastructure, they have the capital, they have the ambition, which is very important. So that’s why everybody is queuing up here,” said Thaha Muhammed Abdul Kareem, a Qatar-based consultant.

Meanwhile, the convergence of autonomous technology and global platforms is becoming a key pathway for Chinese firms to scale up in the region.

Pony.ai, WeRide and Apollo Go have all partnered with Uber in the region so their vehicles can be ordered through the Uber app which has 171 million monthly active users in more than 500 cities worldwide on its platform.

Zhu Keli, founding director of the China Institute of New Economy, said the surging demand for autonomous vehicles overseas, the open environment, and supportive measures for autonomous driving technology, provide Chinese companies with ideal testing sites and broader development space.

“Their global expansion will bolster the maturity of autonomous driving technology, propel the in-depth integration of global industrial chains, optimize resource allocation and inject fresh impetus into the self-driving sector across the globe,” he said.

cuihaipei@chinadaily.com.cn