25 We brainstormed several ideas together, but given that Yutong is a world leader in bus manufacturing, the idea for an autonomous minibus felt especially strong in our minds, and so that won out.” As well as vital input coming from Yutong (as discussed below) to create the Robobus, WeRide’s strategic investors and hence partial owners include the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, with Renault leadership having played a key part in the Chinese minibus’ recent success in France. Today, that minibus is a 5.5 m long, 2.6 m tall, 2 m wide, four-wheeled vehicle with a top speed of 40 kph and a minimum turning radius of 5.5 m. It can transport up to 10 seated passengers. A battery-electric bus, it weighs 4300 kg, achieves typical cruising ranges of 120 km (covering eight-hour operating durations) and it can be fully recharged in one hour on a fast DC charge from a port at its rear right. To date, Robobuses have accrued nearly three years’ worth of operating hours, and the company notes that its design was the first driverless EV minibus in the world to win the coveted Red Dot award for product and industrial design. Version 2+ Development work between WeRide and Yutong on the first version of Robobus began in June 2020, using conceptual blueprints that Yutong had already commenced drawing prior to the time. That version’s first prototype rolled off of Yutong’s production line in November 2020, and after some testing, a second version, much closer to the Robobus seen today and far more heavily influenced by WeRide’s engineers, was designed and produced. On version one’s development, Liu recounts: “It was also in June WeRide Robobus | Dossier Uncrewed Systems Technology | October/November 2024 The WeRide Robobus (pictured in Singapore) has been developed for the SAE’s Level 4 of road autonomy, meaning there is no need for an onboard safety driver (Images courtesy of WeRide)
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