Warren Buffett-Backed BYD Marks Another Milestone With L3 Autonomous Driving Test License For High-Speed Roads

Warren Buffett-backed Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD BYDDF, has secured a conditional testing license for level 3 autonomous driving on high-speed roads.

What Happened: Reuters reported that BYD made the announcement on Wednesday about its newly obtained conditional license for L3 autonomous driving tests on high-speed roads. This marks the second such license for the company, following its first one obtained in China in July, according to BYD’s official Weibo page.

Earlier in December, both BMW Group and Mercedes Benz also secured test licenses for L3 self-driving on high-speed roads in Shanghai and Beijing, respectively. State-owned SAIC Motor's EV brand IM Motors has indicated its intentions to apply to China’s industry ministry for product entry of L3 cars.

See Also: Elon Musk’s Starlink Satellite Internet Service Now Has Over 2.3M Customers

Why It Matters: BYD’s progress in the autonomous driving field comes on the heels of several significant milestones for the company. In November, BYD reached the production of 6 million new energy vehicles (NEVs), a noteworthy achievement considering the company took 13 years to build its first one million NEVs.

December saw the launch of BYD’s Song L, an electric SUV positioned as a competitor to Tesla’s Model Y. The affordable vehicle was met with strong demand, with BYD registering 28,350 orders since presales opened.

The company’s significant strides made it a strong contender to overtake Tesla as the global leader in battery electric vehicle sales.

Read Next: President Biden Loves His 1967 Corvette, Once Hit 132 Miles Per Hour — Here’s Why He’ll Never Sell The Nostalgic Automobile

Image via Shutterstock