WeRide has been selected to be the key technology provider for a new autonomous driving pilot project set to take place in Switzerland. The project itself is funded by the Canton of Zurich and Swiss national railway Schweizerische Bundesbahnen (SBB), managed by the Swiss Transit Lab (STL), and will see WeRide contribute both products and operational support.

During its test phase, the project will operate a service using two cars equipped with WeRide’s autonomous technology. The next phase of the project, set to commence in Q2 2025, will expand its scope by deploying up to four autonomous vehicles before scaling up to eight additional AVs in 2026 and expanding further in the longer-term. WeRide confirmed that these vehicles will operate on a fully unmanned mode for up to five years.

The first automated vehicles to be rolled out as part of the pilot will be deployed in the Furttal region of Switzerland. Residents of the region will be able to hail one of the project’s autonomous vehicles using an app supplied by ioki, a German technology company specializing in digital public transportation services. Leveraging WeRide’s autonomous driving technology, the parties are jointly aiming to expand Switzerland’s intelligent transportation network.

For WeRide, the Switzerland pilot represents its third project launched in Europe within eight months, following the launch of a commercial autonomous minibus project at Zurich Airport, and a L4 shuttle service it provided during the 2024 French Open.