Automotive Research & Testing Center (ARTC), a government-sponsored vehicle testing and R&D institute in Taiwan, recently unveiled Taiwan’s first indigenous self-driving pure-electric minibus—WinBus, said a Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) news release.
The WinBus achieves the capability of Society of Automotive Engineering's (SAE) Level 4 autonomous-driving (high-automation) standard, according to ARTC. “In fixed or closed fields, the self-driving electronic vehicle can fully accomplish all environment-monitoring and self-driving tasks without human intervention,” the center said.
“The Made-in-Taiwan (MIT) minibus is an integration of more than 20 suppliers in local supply chain, including chassis, powertrain, battery, body, and key systems for sensing, decision-making, network connection, etc.,” ARTC added.
ARTC Chairman Joe Huang said that the rollout of the self-driving minibus is a key milestone for the local autonomous-vehicle industry and public-transportation services.
ARTC said it would kick off a commercial operation project for the autonomous minibus with a team of private companies in the fourth quarter in 2019, offering shuttle-transport services in the Changhua Coastal Industrial Park to accumulate more operation credits.
Huang added that the center's goal is to export key systems and innovative business models of the WinBus to global customers.
(Automotive Research & Testing Center video)
By Taiwan News
