China’s Hainan Province releases first license for ICV open road testing

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- South China's Hainan Province issued on Aug. 25 its first license that allows self-driving vehicles to be tested on open roads, according to Hainan Tropical Automobile Test Co.,Ltd., the third-party organization responsible for the oversight and management of Hainan's ICV (intelligent-connected vehicle) road tests and pilot applications.

Hongqi E-HS3 in road tests; photo credit: Hainan Tropical Automobile Test Co.,Ltd.

The significant permit was given to a Hongqi E-HS3, an all-electric SUV model equipped with Hongqi's Level 4 self-driving system. Composed of 4 LiDAR devices, 1 smart camera, 5 millimeter-wave radars, and other high-precision positioning sensors, the perception system of the SUV is able to detect objects up to 200 meters away and is capable of 360-degree real-time perception of surrounding pedestrians, vehicles, and obstacles.

An ICV should go through tests in a designated closed testing ground, namely Hainan Automobile Testing Site, to receive the open road test license. Then, the vehicle has to run for 10,000 kilometers on the approved open roads before it goes into highway road tests.

The first roads for open ICV road testing in Hainan span 129.2 kilometers, including 7 open roads and 1 highway, and covering Haikou, Sanya, Wenchang and Qionghai.