Shanghai has become the fifth city in China to have Baidu’s robotaxis. The search giant is road testing the Apollo Go fleet from 9.30am to 11.00pm daily.
About 150 stations will be opened in phases throughout the city to provide users convenient access to residential areas, commercial areas, offices, and public transportation.
According to a recent IHS Markit report, the major market potential for autonomous vehicles in the future will be pinned on business models such as robotaxis, which are estimated to account for more than 60 percent of China’s future mobility sharing market by 2030, exceeding $201 billion.
IHS estimates that this portion of the market will be dominated by two to three robotaxi service providers, with the leading provider snaring more than 40 percent of the market share.
Baidu has made headway in autonomous ride-hailing, achieving a 60 percent drop in cost per mile with the 5th generation robotaxi vehicle release in June. As of end August 2021, Apollo L4 autonomous driving has clocked up 8.7 million test miles.
Following the Shanghai launch, Baidu plans to bring Apollo Go services to 25 more cities over the next three years, making autonomous driving a reality for three million people in China.
Entelechy Asia 