Spy shots showing a self-driving minibus suspected to be from Hongqi have emerged from China. The blue minibus was pictured being transported by auto enthusiasts in China. The large-size grill design and daytime running lights all point to Hongqi’s design family.
From the spy shots, we can see that the minibus features a relatively compact body size, double doors, and a laser radar device on the side. From what we can see of the interior, there seems to be a lot of passenger space, and there’s very little in terms of the cockpit.
In April 2022, the automaker ran a trial of its Hongqi smart minibus in Nanhaizi Park, Beijing. CCTV reporters aboard the Hongqi Smart minibus reported that the bus was able to detect and avoid pedestrians and other vehicles automatically. The smart bus was also able to park itself and had no steering wheel or cockpit.
Interestingly, both buses have similar design, indicating that the automaker has probably decided to move forward with the design. If that’s anything to go by, then the spied minibus is the same model as the Hongqi smart minibus which was trialed two years earlier. According to the manufacturer, the Hongqi smart minibus is a level-4 self-driving bus built by FAW. It features voice interaction, autonomous driving, an AI obot, and fusion sensors. Also, as earlier stated, it has no steering wheel or cockpit.
The bus sensors are capable of detecting obsacles up to hundred meters away, while the 360-degree sensor can make safety judgements in 100 milliseconds. Currently, the bus can only do 15 km/h speeds but improvement is expected before it hits the public. Built on Hongqi’s smart FEEA 2.0 platform, the bus is euipped with 5G tech.
Hongqi has made loads of progress with its unmanned vehicles and recntly obtained a licenseto test its third-generation level-4 Hongqi Robotaxi in Beijing’s policy pilot zone. As at the time of this report, Hongqi’s third-generation L4 Robotaxi has completed over 100,000 kilometers of autonomous driving public road testing in Beijing’s policy pilot zone.
