Japanese company develops self-driving electric buses, with vehicles coming from this Chinese company

Japanese company develops self-driving electric buses sourced from a Chinese company

【PhoneAuto News】In recent years, autonomous driving has become a new topic in the automotive industry, and many companies have invested a lot of effort in this area. According to the Nikkei Chinese website, a Japanese company has recently developed an autonomous driving bus and has started selling it.

TierIV’s autonomous electric bus (source: Nikkei Chinese website)

According to the report, a Japanese autonomous driving software company called TierIV has independently developed a pure electric bus. The company purchased vehicles from BYD and installed sensors that support autonomous driving. Sales began on June 21. The price of this autonomous electric bus is expected to be more than 50 million yen (approximately RMB 2.5 million). The company will also launch a leasing model. It is said that by 2024, the company will launch nine vehicle models, including light vehicles and go-karts. In addition to BYD, the company will also purchase vehicles from Chinese company PIX Moving and Japanese pure electric vehicle manufacturer FOMM. The relevant manufacturing will be entrusted to special vehicle manufacturer TONOX.

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TierIV has an advantage in the operation system “Autoware” of autonomous driving. In the field of pure electric buses, it has designed an electrification unit that converts the action of the accelerator pedal into an electric signal. Through designing and developing and accumulating experience in obtaining autonomous driving certification, it will also share with domestic Japanese automakers. Including sales and leasing, as well as separate development with vehicle manufacturers, the plan is to provide a total of 300 vehicles by 2025.

Regarding autonomous driving, Japan achieved level 4 (fully autonomous driving under specific conditions) highway driving in April 2023. The Japanese government plans to achieve unmanned autonomous driving services in 50 locations by 2025. TierIV President Masahira Kato believes that “in order to achieve the government’s goals, it is necessary to expand the experience of vehicle design required to obtain autonomous driving certification.”

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