An unmanned logistics vehicle at UISEE works at an auto manufacturing facility in Liuzhou, South China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in December 2019. Photo: Courtesy of UISEE

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the development of some technologies or has halted their progress entirely. But it has also served as a catalyst for others like the autonomous driving vehicle.

Unmanned logistics vehicles at UISEE haven't stopped moving at a manufacturing facility at SGMW in Liuzhou, South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Automated vehicles have also provided passenger luggage support at Hong Kong International Airport throughout the pandemic. 

The transport route in SGMW's facility, China's first autonomous driving route for factory logistics launched last year, has completely realized an unmanned and contactless work environment. In March, the self-driving vehicles had driven over 10,000 kilometers with more than 6,000 trips, according to UISEE.

UISEE CEO Wu Gansha, told the Global Times they faced challenges at the Hong Kong airport due to traffic regulations for COVID-19 prevention. 

"We solved the problem with telecommunications and airport's employees could continue the operation by themselves," said Wu. 

During the early stages of the pandemic, UISEE experienced a disrupted supply chain. There was also insufficient data collection due to fewer people on the road, but as nation returns to work, such impact will be limited, said Wu.

"UISEE witnessed surging orders and revenue during the first quarter due to its autonomous driving technologies," Wu noted. 

Tian Weidong, a senior analyst at Guangzhou-based auto industry consultancy Ways Information Technology, said research and development (R&D) and application for low-speed unmanned logistics vehicles are expected to achieve breakthroughs amid COVID-19 pandemic.

"If the pandemic had happened three or four years later, I believe that autonomous driving technology would have played a big role in combating the virus," said James Peng, co-founder and chief executive of Pony.ai, a Chinese autonomous driving start-up, also known as the domestic answer to Google-backed self-driving start-up Waymo.

The health crisis has spurred more requirements on safety and efficiency, and reduced personal contact, reflecting automation and driverless trends, Peng said at a recent online press briefing.

The Pony.ai self-driving fleet in Guangzhou, South China’s Guangdong Province. Photo: Courtesy of Pony.ai

Ready for lift off

Autonomous driving has received significant attention in recent years worldwide, attracting global carmakers, technology firms, start-ups, and investors, racing to achieve a favorable position to usher in the driverless era.

From the Shanghai Motor Show in April last year to the CES in Las Vegas in January, autonomous driving companies and their products have been the most eye-catching feature at both exhibitions.

However, the long process involved with developing autonomous vehicles and implementing a business model to realize large-scale commercialization is still years away from happening, industry observers said.

"This year autonomous driving will move out of the R&D lab and create a real product, via which, commercial orders could be placed and revenues realized," said Wu.

Based on the operation of unmanned logistics vehicles, Wu believes UISEE could see a profit in two years.

Wu estimates that it will be another10 years before the autonomous driving industry takes off with cars smoothly shuffling back and forth backed by mature technology and sound laws.

High usage rates, technology maturity, and sustainable business model that lower costs and can earn profits are a few essentials needed to realize the large-scale commercialization of the automated driving sector.

According to Peng, the major challenge will always be technology, which helps advance driverless development at low costs without sacrificing quality.

Securing financing from investors has also become essential to the survival and development of self-driving start-ups.

"Investors have chilled out to some extent in recent two years in chasing projects around self-driving, and the epidemic is likely to inflict more pressure on start-ups' financing," said Tian.

Pony.ai announced in February that Toyota invested around $400 million in the start-up's latest round of financing, marking the Japanese automaker's biggest investment in an autonomous driving company with a Chinese background.

In the same month, UISEE announced it had secured an investment from Bosch for series B financing.

China vs. US 

As the pandemic spreads in the US, automated driving companies have suspended production.

Waymo has extended the partial suspension of its autonomous vehicle service pilots to include fully driverless vehicle testing, according to a Techcrunch report. 

The Google-backed self-driving player had already stopped operations to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

The robo-taxi project that Pony.ai has been collaborating with South Korean automaker Hyundai in Irvine, California, was also halted, prior to which, there were over 150 orders daily on average.

Lou Tiancheng, co-founder and chief technology officer of Pony.ai, told the Global Times that they are paying close attention to the epidemic in the US to see if self-driving technology can offer some value for American society.

China and the US are home to most competitive markets in the autonomous driving sector boasting of talent pool in artificial intelligence (AI) as well as accumulated tests on public roads. 

Despite the US has taken the lead over China based on earlier moves, China is racing to catch up and now has unique advantages in transport scenarios and regulation breakthroughs, according to industry observers.

"China has been fully supportive of innovative programs like the autonomous driving technology, besides the country has rich AI talent pool that can compete with the US," said Peng, adding that abundant transport data in China would also help the cutting-edge technology to mature.

Chinese internet giant Baidu snatched Waymo's crown in terms of disengagement per mile as data from California Department of Motor Vehicles' annual autonomous vehicle disengagement report showed in February. Lower disengagements per mile suggests the car requires less human interaction, an indication of a safer and more advanced autonomous vehicle.

China is making a major push into autonomous smart vehicles as the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology launched in March classification standards for autonomous driving, promoting mass production at the national policy level. 

Prior to the national guideline, Chinese cities including Beijing and Shanghai have announced local guidelines for self-driving tests, while Baidu already has approval to test self-driving vehicles on city streets.

A McKinsey report from last year suggested autonomous vehicles could, at some point, take over most of the automotive market in China. Autonomous vehicles will likely shift a substantial share of the mobility market value away from products (buying vehicles) and toward services (paying for transportation per mile). 

The report also said that fully autonomous vehicles in China will see mass deployment within 10 years.