Baidu introduced on July 21, 2022, the sixth generation of its self-driving electric car built for car travel, at a cost almost 50% lower than a model announced last year.
Baidu
BEIJING – Chinese technology giant Baidu announced on Thursday that it has cut the price of its robotaxi vehicles by almost half, reducing the costs of a nascent business.
The new vehicle, the Apollo RT6, is an electric car that costs 250,000 yuan (about $ 37,313) to produce, without relying on an outside manufacturer, Baidu said. This price is 48% less than the manufacturing cost of 480,000 yuan announced last year for the Apollo Moon, made in collaboration with the electric car brand Arcfox of the state group BAIC.
The Apollo RT6 will start operating on China’s roads in the second half of next year under Baidu’s self-driving robotaxi business.
The company’s robotaxis business, called Apollo Go, received approval from the city of Beijing in November to begin charging fares for travel within a suburban district. However, a human staff member has yet to sit in the car.
In April, city officials eased restrictions on whether the staff member should sit in the driver’s seat, paving the way for completely eliminating the cost of a taxi driver. It is still unclear when the Chinese government would allow robotaxis to cover unmanned travel charges for vehicles.
We are moving towards a future where taking a robotaxi will cost half the cost of taking a taxi today.
Baidu said the company aims to produce 100,000 Apollo RT6 vehicles over an unspecified period of time.
“This massive cost reduction will allow us to deploy tens of thousands of [autonomous driving vehicles] across China, “said Robin Li, co-founder and CEO of Baidu, in a statement.” We are moving toward a future where taking a robotaxi will cost half the cost of taking a taxi today. “
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Apollo Go operates in 10 cities in China, with plans to reach 65 cities by 2025 and 100 cities by 2030, the company said.
In addition to Baidu, emerging companies such as Pony.ai and WeRide are testing robotaxi businesses in China.
To expand in China, companies must test robotaxis and obtain licenses in every city where they want to operate, Elinor Leung, managing director of Internet and Telecommunications Research in Asia, told CNBC earlier this week. and CLSA.
Until cities recognize the test records of others, robotaxi companies will have to raise more money to test more cars in different cities, he said.