Raphael Thys
Using its self-driving ride-hailing business, Apollo Go, Chinese internet giant Baidu plans to provide a human-free commercial robotaxi service in Chongqing and Wuhan.
Two months ago, Baidu was granted a permission to operate autonomous ride-sharing services on public roads in Beijing, and now the firm has won two more cities in China. Beijing’s permission still needs a human operator in the front passenger seat of the car, despite the fact that Baidu is providing free driverless trips in the name of R&D and public approval.
Beijing and Chongqing will be the first cities in China to have a completely driverless ride-hailing service offered by an autonomous vehicle firm when Baidu starts in Wuhan and Chongqing. The driverless commercial service Cruise just launched in San Francisco and the one Waymo has been delivering in Arizona since 2020 have both started in the United States.
Wei Dong, vice president and chief safety operating officer of Baidu’s Intelligent Driving Group, stated in a statement that “this is a big qualitative shift. In order to reach the tipping point when the sector can eventually roll out completely autonomous driving services on a large scale, “We feel these licences are a vital milestone.”
A 13-square-kilometer region of Wuhan’s Economic and Technological Development Zone, dubbed as China’s “Auto City,” will be serviced by Baidu from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day. The service in Yongchuan District, a 30-square-kilometer region in Chongqing, will operate from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays. According to Baidu, each city will be equipped with a fleet of five Apollo 5th generation robotaxis.
A large number of new, broad roadways make it simpler to run autonomous systems in the areas where Baidu plans to operate. Baidu will be able to launch its first commercial driverless car service in both locations because to favourable legislative and technology conditions. To far, 30 robotaxis have driven more than 1 million kilometres in Chongqing’s Yongchuan District, which serves as an experimental zone for autonomous driving.
Since 2021, 321 kilometres of roads in Wuhan have been reworked for testing autonomous vehicles (AVs), including 106 kilometres of 5G-powered vehicle-to-everything (V2X) infrastructure. An AV’s V2X technology may be used in conjunction with onboard sensors like lidar, radar, and cameras to gather real-time information about their surroundings and transmit that information with other cars or infrastructure. Baidu’s V2X infrastructure also enables the company to remotely monitor and control its cars, as well as to pilot them if required.
Since last month, Baidu has been showing off the designs for its sixth-generation robotic taxi Apollo RT6, which looks like an SUV and minivan, but has a removable steering wheel attached to the back. As a result of creating the battery electric design in-house, the business was able to reduce manufacturing expenses and lower the cost per car down to $37,000. Baidu will be able to test and deploy the RT6 on a modest scale next year and expand to a big scale in 2024 as a result of this.
Apollo Go also operates in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Changsha, Cangzhou, Yangquan, and Wuzhen. Baidu has said that it wants to extend its ride-hailing service to 65 cities by 2025 and to 100 cities by 2030, according to a press release. Another 300 Apollo 5th generation robots will join Baidu’s fleet before the end of this year.