Chinese startup Pony.ai gets approval to test driverless vehicles in California
The agency granted a permit for certain streets in Fremont, Milpitas, and Irvine
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Chinese autonomous vehicle startup Pony.ai has received a permit from California’s Department of Motor Vehicles to test its driverless cars without human safety drivers behind the wheel on specified streets in three cities.
Pony has been authorized to test autonomous vehicles with safety drivers in California since 2017, but the new permit will let it test six autonomous vehicles without safety drivers on specific streets in Fremont, Alameda County; Milpitas, Santa Clara County; and Irvine, Orange County. According to the DMV, the vehicles are designed to be driven on roads with speed limits of 45 miles per hour or less, in clear weather and light precipitation. The first testing will be in Fremont and Milpitas on weekdays between 10AM and 3PM.
Wisconsin authorities ticketed a man who was seen sleeping behind the wheel of his Tesla as the car drove itself in a mode known as Autopilot, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/tesla-driver-slept-car-was-going-over-80-mph-autopilot-n1267805?cid=sm npd nn fb ma&fbclid=IwAR0BrMHn HGo3txXRkRc88mM-oE35p6IVdpi450rhn3oo4-jE15Amv QZkQ" target=" blank">according to a sheriff’s report.</a>
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Image: Tesla Tesla recently admitted to the California Department of Motor Vehicles that its “full self-driving” beta software doesn’t actually turn a Tesla into a fully self-driving vehicle and might never do so. Unsurprisingly, calling something “full self-driving” and then telling the state of California that it isn’t any of those things has led to a DMV investigation into Tesla for misleading advertising.
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Full Self-Driving Capability is a whopping $10,000 option Tesla buyers can add to their vehicle. Here’s how Tesla describes the difference between FSD and Autopilot, which has been around since 2014:
Autopilot is a suite of driver assistance features that can be purchased before you buy your car or after it’s been delivered, and brings new functionality to your Tesla that makes driving safer and less stressful. Available packages include: