WeRide, a self-driving technology start-up with offices in San Jose, Singapore, Abu Dhabi, and Guangzhou, has secured two permits for autonomous vehicles in the Lion City, demonstrating its dedication to advancing the field of autonomous driving technology globally.

According to WeRide, the company has obtained a T1 assessment license for public path testing and a Level 1 license for autonomous vehicle testing on public roads from the Land Transport Authority of Singapore. With these licenses, it is able to test-drive its robobuses extensively on public roads in locations like One North and the National University of Singapore.

Since Tony Han, the company’s CEO, founded it in 2017, advancements have been made in the autonomous driving sector.

“We appreciate the strong support from the Singapore government and local partners,” Han said. “This achievement in Singapore is another major milestone for our international business development.

“We will accelerate the delivery of high-quality autonomous driving technology, products, and services to the local community and the entire Southeast Asia region.”

WeRide became the first company to be granted an autonomous driving license in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in July, following nearly two years of operation of a robotaxi fleet in the Middle Eastern nation.

All of WeRide’s autonomous vehicles, including robotaxis, robobuses, robovans, and robosweepers, are now able to go through road testing and operations on public roads across the United Arab Emirates thanks to this, the company’s first national-level approval in the area.

Eight robotaxis and two robobuses make up WeRide’s current fleet of ten vehicles in the United Arab Emirates. In keeping with its mobility strategy and dedication to promoting technological innovation in transportation, the company intends to have hundreds of vehicles on the nation’s roads by 2025.

The company claims that the Lion City licenses mark a significant milestone in WeRide’s global expansion plans, even though the precise operational timeline for Singapore is still pending. WeRide further stated that the licenses are especially notable due to Singapore’s strict safety regulations.

The evaluation procedure examined a number of factors, such as fundamental autonomous driving capabilities, dynamic obstacle avoidance, static obstacle recognition, redundancy in safety driver control of the vehicle, and overall vehicle safety performance.

WeRide is the first and, as of right now, the only tech startup globally to possess autonomous driving licenses in China, the US, the UAE, and Singapore thanks to these permits.

Additionally, WeRide was notified last month by the Beijing municipal government that it could offer the public a fare-charging robotaxi service in the Yizhuang neighborhood of the Chinese capital without the need for safety drivers.

2019 saw the public launch of WeRide’s robotaxi service in Guangzhou, making it the first company in China to run a robotaxi business.