BYD Auto Co., Ltd. announced on Wednesday in a post on Weibo that it was granted a conditional testing license for level 3 autonomous driving on high-speed roads by the Chinese authorities.
Level 3 (L3) autonomous driving allows drivers to temporarily take their attention off of the road, as the system has "environmental detection" capabilities. Nonetheless, human override is still required, as the driver is expected to be prepared to take over at any moment.
Earlier in December, Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) also received a test license for L3 autonomous driving on high-speed roads in Shanghai, while Mercedes-Benz Group AG revealed it will start conducting its own L3 autonomous driving tests on public highways in China.