China develops self-driving electric city buses

China has developed its first solely electric-powered self-driving buses which can travel upto 150 km on a single charge and plans to deploy them later this month, media reports said today.

After successful testing at a factory in central China's Hubei Province, the first two buses have been sent to Shenzhen, Guangdong Province where they will be tested on the road, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The buses are expected to be put into use in as yet unconfirmed areas at the end of November, said the provincial economy and information technology commission.

The 6.7-metre long buses can carry 25 passengers and run at a maximum speed of 40 km per hour.

They have the ability to switch between manual driver operation and self-driving.

They have energy saving features and a single charge allows them to run for up to 150 km. The motor and key parts are expected to last for over 1.2 million km without failure, the report said.

The buses were jointly developed by Hubei-based automaker the Dongfeng Xiangyang Touring Car Company Ltd and the Beijing Institute of Technology, the commission said.