Volkswagen Group China has officially received an L3 autonomous driving road test license in Hefei, according to Gasgoo, a Chinese automotive news outlet. The license was granted under China's most stringent L3 regulatory framework, meeting the latest mandatory safety design standards. This allows the company to conduct real-world testing and large-scale data collection for L3 technology in Hefei, with testing already underway.
Key milestone toward 2027 L3 readiness
The acquisition of this license is a critical step in Volkswagen's push to deploy advanced autonomous driving in China, marking another significant advance toward its goal of having L3 technology ready by 2027. The company's local intelligent driving center, CARIAD China, is leading the development efforts.
Volkswagen has already introduced its first full-scenario advanced driver assistance system, Hyper Sense 8 (HS8). Powered by AI, the company's proprietary world model, GAIA 2.0, can conduct safety simulations equivalent to 5 million kilometers (about 3.1 million miles) of real driving each day. It also uses up to 30 million real-world driving scenario clips to continuously improve system capabilities. The training mileage for GAIA 2.0 is targeted at 10 million kilometers (about 6.2 million miles) per day, preparing for the L3 autonomous driving era. Through extensive data and training, the system is designed to handle rare and unexpected road conditions effectively.
Volkswagen is also advancing development of its self-designed system-on-chip, the C7H, which can support up to L4 capabilities. The first Volkswagen Group China Technology Day is scheduled for October 28 in Hefei, where the company will showcase its latest technological progress.
