Chinese firm WeRide has launched the Robovan W5, featuring self-developed level-four autonomous technology that operates round-the-clock in all weather conditions.

It offers long-distance and bulk delivery capabilities integrating vehicle, cloud and operations for the logistics industry, particularly in express delivery, urban distribution and various point-to-point logistics, with cost-effective unmanned delivery.

As a level-four autonomous logistics vehicle for urban open roads, Robovan W5 is built on WeRide’s almost 1900 days of autonomous operations, and nearly 40 million kilometres of autonomous driving on public roads. It features WeRide’s self-designed redundant sensor kit, which detects vehicles, traffic lights, pedestrians and other road users, while providing 360-degree blind-spot-free perception to operate round-the-clock in various traffic conditions.

The W5 is tailored for high-frequency urban logistics. Features include the largest cargo capacity in its class at 5.5 cubic metres with 1000kg maximum payload, and operating range of up to 220km. It navigates complex urban traffic environments with an intelligent path optimisation system that analyses traffic conditions in real time, dynamically adjusting routes to avoid congestion. It allows modular cargo box stacking for different scenarios.

The van supports multi-vehicle platooning, allowing single-operator management of multiple vehicles for standardised, scalable delivery. Its electric drive and round-the-clock operations further reduce operation costs.

Safety features include redundant drive-by-wire chassis, redundant perception, emergency braking, collision warning, driving status monitoring and intelligent cloud control platform.

Service features include cloud-based intelligent scheduling, real-time monitoring, task optimisation, and data analytics, rapid deployment and remote OTA upgrades. WeRide also provides round-the-clock customer support, on-site training, customisation, warranty, maintenance, vehicle replacement for quality issues and IoT.

“The Robovan W5 demonstrates WeRide’s latest breakthrough in autonomous delivery and ability to adapt WeRide’s proven autonomous driving technology across different urban scenarios with our self-developed universal autonomous driving technology platform WeRide One,” said Tony Han, CEO of WeRide (www.weride.ai). “From our GXR Robotaxi serving passengers and Robosweeper cleaning the urban environment to the Robovan W5 handling urban logistics, we’re creating a comprehensive ecosystem of autonomous driving to cover diverse urban transportation needs.”