Shanghai expands testing roads for self-driving cars

Shanghai has opened more roads for testing of self-driving vehicles to further accelerate industry development and commercialization.

The city has extended the length of roads for self-driving vehicle testing to a total of 530.57 kilometers, the city government said.

The development of self-driving vehicles plays a vital role in the transformation and industrial upgrading of the automobile industry. It is also important as Shanghai aims to become a scientific and innovation center with global influence.

Shanghai's move is in accordance with the country's plan to further promote industry development. The country released its technology roadmap for intelligent and connected vehicles on Wednesday at the 2020 World Intelligent Connected Vehicles Conference held in Beijing.

The latest roadmap further clarifies the development goals and technical routes of intelligent and connected vehicle technologies for the period of 2021-2035, reflecting the country's determination to further push forward the development of this sector.

The number of autonomous passenger cars in China is expected at around 8 million units in 2030 and 13.5 million units in 2040, according to consulting firm McKinsey & Company.

Up to now, Shanghai has issued 119 testing licenses to 20 companies. The city said its number of companies and licenses ranks first in the nation. Auto companies have accumulated about 650,000 kilometers of road tests, with a cumulative testing time period of 28,000 hours.

Of the total 530.57 kilometers, there are 315 kilometers of roads for self-driving vehicle testing in Jiading District, 118.2 kilometers in Lingang New Area and 97.37 kilometers in Fengxian District.

To ensure the safety of testing, Shanghai has formulated methods for test road environment complexity assessment and test scenario management. The city clearly standardized the road video monitoring system, test data recording system, test road maintenance inspection and other requirements.

The test scenarios for self-driving vehicles in Shanghai consist of urban roads, conditional highways, roads in industrial parks, ports and other application scenarios. There are both testing scenarios for passenger cars and commercial vehicles.