“Chomping at the bit” for Robotaxi in China
Robotaxis have been popping up a lot in the China news over the past quarter (Q2, 2020), not only inside the AV industry but also in public media. For example:
On April 27, AutoX rolled out robotaxi service via AutoNavi’s mobile map product “AMAP” at designated areas of Jiading District in Shanghai. Validated users (after a quick signup) would see the option of AutoX among vehicle models when hailing a cab via “AMAP” if the journey falls within the operating area.
In May, WeRide revealed their progress with some actual figures including expanded test fleet of over 100, of which 40 as robotaxi. On June 23, the company joined AMAP’s ride-hailing network, which means in addition to the proprietary ride-hailing app “WeRide Go”, Guangzhou users can access the service via “AMAP”.
On June 27, Didi launched robotaxi service within designated areas in Shanghai’s Jiading District. Approved users have the option to hail an autonomous vehicle within the “DiDi” app.
Compared to less than a year ago when we last considered “Robotaxi in China”, a lot has happened. But speaking of the robotaxi commercialization, we can’t leave out the actual pioneer and a global leading player, Waymo, who initially launched robotaxi service back in 2018. Here is a quick comparison.
The commercialization of robotaxi can be broken down to 5 steps:
- Create a prototype AV and run it in lab environment
- Obtain a license and do road test with a safety driver
- Rollout a small fleet to test carrying passengers
- Mass produce AVs to support robotaxi service at scale
- Operate robotaxi network
Waymo, and Baidu to some extent, have reached stage 4 by now with the rest in stage 3. However, each stage comes with bigger challenges than the previous ones and takes a longer time.
The latest news, as we are starting off with Q3, is that WeRide plans to do fully autonomous driving test on open roads after securing the very first remote-control permit. As the term robotaxi implies, safety drivers will be phased out, and this is just the beginning of another major leap.
Be ready for your automated rides.
