Chinese autonomy experts Pony.ai are planning to put 1,000 autonomous electric commercial trucks to work by 2027, but it’s the company’s plans to put 100,000 self-driving trucks on the road by 2030 that’s making headlines.

Thought not particularly well-known in the US, Pony.ai has been developing autonomous trucks in China and the Middle East since 2018. Those first hand-built prototypes were succeeded by modular units as the company inched closer to automotive-grade series production through a variety of partnerships with established medium- and heavy-duty truck brands and now, nearly a decade later, they seem ready to make the leap to regular production of self-driving on-road trucks with partner brand SANY. They’ve even figured out the breakdown:

Over the next two to three years, Pony.ai expects 500 to 1,000 Gen-4 autonomous heavy-duty trucks to be deployed across three primary scenarios in China: long-haul freight, bulk commodity transportation and port logistics. Pony.ai also expects light-duty trucks to scale faster, with a longer-term goal of reaching 100,000 L4 autonomous light-duty trucks by 2030.

PONY.AI

Longtime Electrek readers (and TSLA shareholders, frankly) will be quick to point out that goals are one thing and actual deliveries are another. To their credit, Pony.ai issued a number of caveats in their forward-looking statements.

“The targets reflect several developments coming together,” reads Pony’s official press release. “A more mature autonomous driving system, lower hardware costs, automotive-grade redundant vehicle platforms and deeper collaboration with vehicle manufacturers and logistics operators.”