China certifies the first Level 3 self-driving cars

China's push to dominate the future of transportation just hit a major milestone, proving its regulatory framework moves as fast as its electric cars do. The country's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) announced its first approvals for Level 3 (L3) autonomous driving. This latest regulatory update allows select passenger vehicles to begin public road testing on designated routes, giving manufacturers the green light to prepare for commercial rollout.

The MIIT granted permits to the Changan Deepal SL03 and the Arcfox Alpha S sedan. The Deepal SL03 comes from Changan Automobile, while the Alpha S is a product of Arcfox, the electric vehicle division of the larger BAIC Group. The MIIT confirmed that both companies successfully completed and passed rigorous product testing and safety assessments, indicating the systems are ready for the new phase.

Drivers need to understand what "Level 3" means before they let the car take the wheel. The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) defines L3 as a state where the car manages all aspects of driving, but the human driver must remain alert and ready to take over if the car requests it. This is not "set it and forget it" driving.

The new approvals come with strict geographic and speed limitations. The Changan vehicle can operate autonomously only within specific areas of Chongqing, and only at a maximum speed of 31 mph. Similarly, the Arcfox can auto-drive only in parts of Beijing, with a slightly higher cap of 50 mph. Both cars can only use the autonomous mode on single lanes of highways and urban expressways during traffic congestion.

The regulatory update sparked a flurry of activity among other top Chinese EV players, all scrambling to secure their own permits. XPeng, considered one of the country's most advanced EV makers in smart driving, immediately secured L3 road test permits in its headquarters city of Guangzhou and began routine road testing. The company's vice president, Yu Tao, confirmed the testing is underway and hinted at future "surprises" coming in the first quarter of next year.

XPeng aims high, setting its sights on matching the capabilities of Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) software in the US. In fact, XPeng's CEO, He Xiaopeng, offered his smart driving team a playful incentive: he promised to approve a Chinese-style cafeteria for the Silicon Valley team if their VLA 2.0 software could achieve FSD V14.2's performance in China by August 30, 2026 - a delicious benchmark for performance. XPeng has already unveiled its VLA 2.0 system, which offers Level 4 capabilities, with deployment planned to start in the first quarter of 2026.

Not to be left behind, Li Auto also secured its own L3 road test permits in Beijing, its home base, and began routine testing on designated roads. While Nio has not recently announced a new L3 approval, the company previously obtained an L3 conditional autonomous driving test license in Shanghai in December 2023.

In June 2024, Nio joined China's first batch of automakers permitted to pilot vehicles equipped with L3 or L4 capabilities on public roads. Meanwhile, another industry giant, Huawei's HIMA (Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance) business, has launched internal testing of its L3 conditional autonomous driving system in Shenzhen.

Via