HANNOVER, Germany — Pony AI Inc. is unveiling a new Level 4 (L4) autonomous heavy-duty truck developed in collaboration with GAC Commercial Vehicle.
“The global debut of the T9 autonomous heavy-duty truck with GAC Commercial Vehicle marks another important step in accelerating the mass production and commercial deployment of Pony.ai’s Robotrucks,” said He Xing, vice president of Pony.ai and head of the company’s Robotruck business. “Looking ahead, we will deepen our collaboration with GAC Commercial Vehicle, continue advancing volume production and deployment of the T9 Robotrucks, and bring our jointly developed autonomous trucking solutions to markets around the world.”
The global debut marks the latest step in the companies’ collaboration and advances Pony.ai’s efforts to bring its fourth generation (Gen-4) Robotruck platform into mass production and commercial deployment.
Truck Specs
As one of the models in Pony.ai’s Gen-4 Robotruck lineup, the new vehicle is built on GAC Commercial Vehicle’s T9 battery-electric heavy-duty truck platform. Volume production is scheduled to begin later this year, with vehicles to be deployed in long-haul freight, dedicated-route logistics and port transportation.
The new model integrates Pony.ai’s Gen-4 L4 autonomous trucking system with GAC Commercial Vehicle’s fully redundant drive-by-wire chassis. Its steering, braking, communications, power supply, computing and sensing systems all feature fully redundant architectures to support safe operation across a wide range of conditions.
The vehicle is also equipped with a fully automotive-grade autonomous driving kit (ADK) comprising nine lidars, three millimeter-wave radars and 13 cameras, providing 360-degree sensing coverage with no blind spots. It uses the same domain controller as Pony.ai’s seventh-generation (Gen-7) Robotaxis. The bill-of-materials cost of the ADK has been reduced by 70% compared with the previous generation, while transportation costs per ton-kilometer are expected to fall by 30%.
Pony.ai’s energy-efficiency algorithms, combined with the T9’s ultra-low drag coefficient of 0.4 Cd, are also expected to reduce energy consumption by 10% compared with conventional trucks, supporting smarter, greener and more efficient freight operations.
CollaborationÂ
The new model extends Pony.ai’s longstanding partnership with GAC Group from Robotaxi into Robotruck. Pony.ai and GAC Commercial Vehicle signed a strategic cooperation agreement on Apr. 16. Within five months, the companies completed vehicle testing and validation ahead of the model’s formal launch. This accelerated development process was supported by Pony.ai’s autonomous driving expertise, together with GAC Commercial Vehicle’s automotive engineering and manufacturing capabilities.
Pony.ai began developing Robotrucks in 2018 and has since built a product portfolio spanning heavy- and light-duty trucks. The company is advancing its Gen-4 Robotrucks toward mass production while working with vehicle manufacturers and logistics operators across long-haul freight, bulk commodity transportation, port logistics and urban delivery. Its approach applies the same underlying Virtual Driver technology across Robotaxis, heavy-duty trucks and light-duty trucks, supported by fully redundant safety architectures.
Expansion
Pony.ai also plans to expand its Robotruck business internationally, including entering markets in Europe and the Middle East over the next two years. The company intends to build on the technology, commercial experience and partner-led approach developed through its operations in China, as well as the overseas operating experience of its Robotaxi business. Pony.ai currently has Robotaxi operations and partnerships underway in markets including the UAE, Qatar, Croatia, Luxembourg, Singapore and South Korea.
Dana Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has been featured in multiple newspapers, books and magazines across the globe. She is currently based in the Atlanta, Georgia, area.
