Deepal Chairman Deng Chenghao announced that the Deepal SL03 model has officially received authorization for L3 autonomous driving. This development follows the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's decision to grant the first batch of permits for conditional L3 autonomous driving vehicles in China.
The Changan Deepal SL03 is authorized for single-lane autonomous driving in traffic congestion at speeds up to 50 km/h. Usage is currently restricted to specific routes in Chongqing, including the Inner Ring Expressway and Yudu Avenue.
The second authorized vehicle is the Arcfox Alpha S, which supports single-lane autonomous driving on highways and urban expressways at speeds up to 80 km/h. Operations are limited to designated sections of the Beijing-Taipei Expressway and the Daxing Airport Expressway in Beijing.
Deng Chenghao emphasized that L3 status is a matter of legal responsibility rather than a marketing term. He noted that many products previously marketed as L3-capable were using the term loosely, whereas the current permits represent a shift toward commercial application.
