BEIJING – The office of the Beijing high-level autonomous driving demonstration area launched a road test of unmanned police patrol cars on Jan 16, the first of its kind in China.

Fifteen self-driving patrol cars, complete with flashing lights, hit public roads in the autonomous driving demonstration area, performing round-the-clock police duties in coordination with officers from the Daxing branch of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau.

The duties being tested include patrolling, ensuring security for large-scale events, public announcements, issuing warnings and emergency rescue work.

Neolix senior vice-president Zhang Weiling said: “The unmanned patrol cars possess Level 4 autonomous driving technology. They can complete battery replacement in 30 seconds and have a driving range of 100km.”

Neolix is the developer of the patrol cars.

The vehicles feature a 360-degree multi-sensor fusion perception capability with a detection range of up to 120m.

The powerful onboard computing platform can calculate and respond based on road conditions in real time, thus ensuring vehicle driving safety.

The unmanned vehicle team will patrol an area of 60 sq km in the Beijing high-level autonomous driving demonstration area.

Since Beijing initiated the autonomous driving demonstration area in September 2020, it has built 160 sq km of area equipped with intelligent connected roads and a dedicated smart city network.

A total of 28 vehicle testing companies are operating in the demonstration area. Over 800 vehicles are now engaged in testing and commercial exploration, with a cumulative test mileage exceeding 20 million km. XINHUA