万辆无人车，等待一张“全国通行证”

Core Insights - The most lucrative and rapidly scalable application of autonomous driving in 2025 is expected to be in the field of unmanned delivery [1] Group 1: Investment and Growth - Major players in the unmanned delivery sector, such as New Stone and Nine Insight, have received significant capital investments, with New Stone raising $600 million in October 2025, marking the largest single private equity financing in China's autonomous driving sector [2] - New Stone and Nine Insight have both surpassed a cumulative delivery volume of 10,000 units, with projections indicating that unmanned delivery vehicle sales will exceed 30,000 units in 2025 [4] Group 2: Regulatory Environment - The rapid growth of unmanned delivery has led to a more lenient regulatory environment compared to other autonomous driving sectors like Robotaxi and Robotruck, which face stricter scrutiny due to safety concerns [5][6] - The lack of clear regulatory definitions for unmanned delivery vehicles has allowed them to bypass stringent entry barriers faced by traditional vehicle manufacturers, facilitating easier market entry [6] Group 3: Safety and Operational Challenges - The rapid expansion of unmanned delivery vehicles has raised safety concerns, with incidents such as collisions with electric motorcycles becoming more common [9] - A significant portion of accidents involving unmanned vehicles, approximately 40%-50%, are due to rear-end collisions, highlighting the need for improved safety measures [9] Group 4: Legal and Regulatory Challenges - The ambiguity surrounding the legal classification of unmanned delivery vehicles complicates traffic management and accident liability issues [10] - The absence of a unified legal framework for unmanned delivery vehicles is identified as a major bottleneck hindering large-scale application [14] Group 5: Future Directions and Recommendations - To overcome current regulatory challenges, there is a call for a shift from a purely human-driven regulatory approach to a data-driven governance model that integrates real-time traffic data [22] - The industry is encouraged to focus on operational management and safety compliance to avoid repeating past mistakes seen in other sectors [21]