On December 23, Beijing officially began issuing the first batch of L3 dedicated license plates in the city for autonomous vehicles operating on highways. These vehicles are three BAIC ARCFOX intelligent connected vehicles (ICVs) under the BAIC Group. This marks the first issuance of such license plates in the country and represents a significant milestone in China's automotive intelligence, signifying that the country's autonomous vehicles have progressed from testing and demonstration to official mass production, thus pioneering the era of L3 autonomous driving.

[Photo via BAIC]

[Photo via BAIC]

The license plates for the three BAIC ARCFOX L3 autonomous vehicles are Jing AA0001Z, Jing AA0733Z, and Jing AA0880Z. Having undergone a series of preliminary safety tests, the vehicle model is currently at the stage of conditional driving automation, meaning that it can perform dynamic driving tasks under specific limited conditions and can operate at a maximum speed of 80 km/h within a single lane on highways and urban expressways. It is important to note that although the vehicle can perform automated driving on designated roads, a driver must remain in the driver's seat to serve as a backup and take over control in case of emergencies.

Currently, the "conditional driving automation" function is only enabled on specific sections of expressways in Beijing, including the Beijing-Taipei Expressway (from Jiugong New Bridge in Daxing District to the Airport North Expressway), the Airport North Expressway (from Daqu South Bridge to the Daxing Airport Expressway), and the Daxing Airport Expressway (from the Southern 6th Ring Road to the Airport North Expressway). For other roads or in other areas, autonomous driving will be forcibly disabled by the vehicle system. 

(Source: The Beijing News)