General Motors China, in cooperation with Chinese AV startup Momenta, will begin testing its L4 AVs on roads in Shanghai after obtaining the necessary permit to do so.
The Shanghai Intelligent Connected Vehicle (ICV) Road Test Permit enables GM to put highly automated vehicles of designated test zones on China’s public roads for the first time. The vehicles themselves will be equipped with the self-driving solutions Momenta developed with GM’s local team in China for the Chinese market. This technology will be retrofitted onto a fleet of Cadillac Lyriq e-SUVs to demonstrate its potential for application on production, personally owned vehicles at scale, and its integration with GM’s Ultium EV platform.
The program will commence with a year-long AV testing period, conducted mainly in a designated area of Shanghai’s Jinqiao District. With a safety driver behind the steering wheel, GM’s test vehicles will operate autonomously in an urban setting in the district – navigating complex, sophisticated, driving scenarios across Shanghai’s four ICV test zones.
Leveraging Momenta’s artificial intelligence to speed up algorithm iteration, the test program will help GM’s test fleet to advance to higher levels of road testing and operation as mapped out by Shanghai’s ICV development guidelines. More broadly, the tests will also benefit GM ‘s ADAS as they continue to roll out in China and while they continue to evolve and expand applicable automated driving scenarios – from restricted driving conditions (such as highways) to more demanding urban settings.
