Driverless Minibus Hits the Clay Courts at Roland-Garros


PARIS, June 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Renault, premium partner of Roland-Garros, and French Tennis Federation (FTT), together with WeRide, a globally leading autonomous driving technology company, provide a L4 driverless minibus shuttle service for this Grand tennis tournament held on the red clay.

WeRide Robobus at Roland-Garros

(WeRide Robobus at Roland-Garros)

The L4 driverless minibus shuttle service at Roland-Garros transports passengers from the P2 parking lot (located on the outskirts of Bois de Boulogne) to Roland-Garros Stadium. Then the minibus departs from Roland-Garros Stadium to either Auteuil Gate Square or returns to the P2 parking lot. The entire shuttle route is approximately 5-km long and takes about 12 minutes. VIPs and media can choose nearby stops to queue for boarding. The operation lasts until June 9th, between 11:00 AM and 7:00 PM.

WeRide Robobus is the world's first pre-designed self-driving minibus that is commercially deployed in large scale. It features WeRide's full-stack, self-developed autonomous driving software and hardware system, offering shuttle services across various scenarios, including open roads, airports, resorts, and popular tourist sites. WeRide Robobus has a global presence of nearly 30 cities.

WeRide's Founder and CEO, Tony Han, stated, "We are very grateful for the strong support from our strategic investor, Renault Group. Launching the Robobus shuttle service at Roland-Garros marks the first step in our joint effort with Renault Group to promote low-carbon public transportation with autonomous driving. This is also another significant milestone in WeRide's international strategy, marking our official entry into the European market. Moving forward, we will work together with Renault to bring safe, comfortable, and green autonomous public transportation services to users in Europe."

The long-term goal of Renault Group and WeRide is to jointly develop a localized version of L4 driverless minibus for the public transportation in Europe. It is estimated that the commercial demand for driverless minibus in Europe will reach several thousand units per year.

About WeRide

Established in 2017, WeRide is a leading, commercial-stage company that develops autonomous driving technologies from L2 to L4, offering Robotaxi, Robobus, Robovan, Robosweeper and ADAS. It is the only company in the world with driverless permits in China, the US, the UAE and Singapore, conducting R&D, tests and operations in over 30 cities of 7 countries.

WeRide was ranked 8th in Fortune 2023 Change the World list.

Website: www.weride.ai
Media inquiries: PR@WeRide.ai

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/61d89ae0-acbf-4421-8545-0db80efdddb9