Self-Driving Company DeepRoute Targets Europe

Chinese self-driving company DeepRoute is setting its sights on Europe.

And it used last week’s IAA Mobility Show in Munich to confirm that its first port of call will be Germany.

The Shenzhen based start-up said it will establish a European operations center there next year and also announced that its HD map-free solution will be released in the country, too.

DeepRoute, which has received extensive financial backing from Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, has made significant progress in its homeland over the past couple of years with its innovative autonomous driving solutions, including the rollout of self-driving taxis and trucks.

It is following a different route from other companies by eschewing the use of high-definition mapping to enable assisted and partially automated driving. 

This has the benefit of helping to keep costs down, making the tech more suitable for mass production. A prime example is its current Drive 3.0 solution, which is powered by the Nvidia Drive Orin centralized compute platform.

Drive 3.0 is available in two different forms for automakers. D-PRO, which has a hardware cost of $2,000, features valet-park assist and point-to-point navigation on specific roads.

The even more affordable D-AIR (hardware cost $1,000) delivers automatic cruise control, lane centering control and autonomous emergency braking.

Related:DeepRoute Launches New Map-Free Self-Driving Tech

By setting up in Germany, DeepRoute will make itself more accessible to an army of automakers across Europe, with the hope of increasing sales. Currently, it counts Chinese car manufacturers Geely and Seres among its customers.

To that end, the company says it will customize the Drive 3.0 solution for European countries, ensuring it meets regional regulations and adheres to local driving behaviors and environments, including recognizing different languages and road layouts.

However, DeepRoute has not yet revealed specifically where in Germany its new center will be based, or how many people will work there. It is understood that establishing a business development team will be among the immediate priorities.

“The auto industry is witnessing a revolution marked with brand new smart driving experiences, which will bring extra value to consumers,” said Maxwell Zhou, CEO of DeepRoute.

“As a pioneer in the autonomous driving field, we are committed to partnering with global automakers and empowering them with our unique solutions that enhance the future driving experience.”

Rishi Dhall, vice president of automotive at Nvidia, added: “DeepRoute has made significant strides in expanding from robotaxis to a broad range of vehicles for consumer and commercial use cases. It is poised to accelerate mass deployment of its safe and robust advanced driver-assistance systems and autonomous driving solutions to key automakers across the world.”