Self-driving trucks PONY.AI has unveiled its fourth-generation autonomous truck lineup, with mass production and initial fleet deployment targeted for next year. Co-developed with Sany Truck and other partners, the first two gen-4 truck models will use battery-electric platforms and automotive-grade components, with Pony.ai claiming a 70% cost reduction per vehicle compared to earlier models. The trucks will feature redundant drive-by-wire chassis and safety systems across six key functions, and will undergo tests for reliability in harsh conditions. Pony.ai said the trucks are designed for a service life of up to 1 million kilometers. UBTech to boost production UBTECH Robotics plans to expand humanoid robot production tenfold next year to about 5,000 units, and then double it to 10,000 in 2027. The company expects production costs to drop by 20% to 30% each year, said chief branding officer Michael Tam. UBTech is set to deliver 500 humanoid robots for industrial use by the end of 2025, up from 10 units delivered last year. The firm recently secured over 800 million yuan (US$112 million) in orders for its Walker S2 robots, with customers including data centers and automakers. EV charging boom THE number of charging piles for electric vehicles (EVs) in China reached over 18.64 million as of the end of October this year, marking an increase of 54% from a year ago, Xinhua reported. Among them, around 4.53 million were public charging facilities while over 14.11 million were private, up 39.5% and 59.4%, respectively, data from the National Energy Administration showed. Earlier last month, China unveiled a three-year action plan to improve the country's EV charging infrastructure, aiming to establish a nationwide network of 28 million charging facilities, with public charging capacity surpassing 300 million kilowatts by the end of 2027. | 