DCA designed electric and autonomous A-Star shuttle bus passes 1,500 milestone

Since its launch in 2019, the A-Star electric and autonomous shuttle bus has proved to be a very successful product for Xiamen Golden Dragon. Now, just before the Chinese New Year, it has reached the impressive milestone of 1,500 units sold.

The idea for a zero-emissions and autonomous passenger shuttle was born from a collaborative design project between DCA and Golden Dragon. Having explored several ideas for future vehicles, the project focused on an electric, autonomous shuttle bus that would answer the demands raised by incoming environmental legislation and trends in urban planning and traffic management in China.

At the time of its launch, the A-Star was the first of its kind, offering a zero-emissions solution to reduce urban congestion and pollution by transporting people between transport hubs and car parks outside of high-density urban areas such as city centres, business parks and tourist sites.

Today, the A-Star is in operation in many cities in China and beyond, and has won several awards. Competitors have tried to replicate the success of this transportation format, but the A-Star has remained the leading product in the market segment it helped to create.

The flexible architecture means that Golden Dragon has been able to use the A-Star as a development platform, constantly upgrading the drivetrain and autonomous driving systems, moving towards the goal of full autonomy. Such modularity also means that the vehicle can be ordered in many different configurations, catering for the needs of specific regions or operators. There are even versions being used as food trucks in tourist sites where vehicles with internal combustion engines are not allowed to enter.