Arcfox & Deepal Get China’s First L3 Autonomous Driving License Plates

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You may be familiar with China’s green license plates for electric vehicles. They help people to notice which vehicles are electric and which aren’t. Now there’s apparently a new kind of license plate, and the first four of them have been delivered in Chongqing and Beijing.

I reported last week on the first L3 autonomous driving permits being provided in the country. Now we have news of the first L3 autonomous driving license plates being issued.

To kick things off, only four license plates have been issued. Deepal got the first license plate from the city of Chongqing a few days ago. It received the 渝AD0001Z license plate on December 20. However, L3 autonomous driving is only allowed on select highways and expressways. When not on those roadways, L3 capability will be deactivated.

Arcfox, a sub-brand of Beijing Automotive Group (BAIC Group), got the following three license plates: 京AA0001Z, 京AA0733Z, and 京AA0880Z. Notably, though, there are only three sections of roadway in Beijing where L3 autonomous driving is permitted. In other places, L3 functionality will be disabled. How much and how fast this will grow, who knows?

You can read more here about the other automakers that have received L3 autonomous driving permits. Those companies are expected to be getting their first L3 autonomous driving license plates soon (if they haven’t already).