Baidu kicks off robotaxi business, after Beijing city’s fare approval
BEIJING — Baidu can start collecting robotaxi fares in a part of Beijing from Thursday, the Chinese tech giant told CNBC this week, marking a major step toward building its driverless taxi business.
The regulatory approval to support robotaxis in China comes as local governments in the U.S. have been progressing in a similar direction.
However, Beijing city’s move carries additional weight.
Approval from China’s capital marks the first time such a large city in the country has allowed companies to charge the public for robotaxi rides.
It sets the stage for other cities like Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen to do the same, Wei Dong, vice president and chief security operation officer, at Baidu’s Intelligent Driving Group told CNBC in an exclusive interview.
He expects those cities to act later this year or early next year.
How much will it cost?
Effective Thursday, Baidu’s Apollo unit that runs the robotaxi business can collect fares from passengers taking one of 67 self-driving cars in Beijing’s suburban district of Yizhuang.
While the company did not disclose exact pricing, it said fares would be comparable with the premium level ride-hailing charges available through apps like Didi, which can cost twice as much as ordinary rides.
A safety staff member gets in a self-driving robotaxi on October 13, 2020, in Beijing, China, a few days after Baidu launched trial operations of its Apollo Robotaxi.
Zhao Jing | Visual China Group | Getty Images
Baidu has offered free robotaxi rides in Yizhuang since October 2020. As of Wednesday, the robotaxi app, branded “Luobo Kuaipao,” showed a sample fare of 34 yuan ($5.31) for a 3-kilometer ride (1.86 miles) from a Sam’s Club in Yizhuang to a nearby subway station.
The same route costs about 14 yuan ($2.19) through Didi’s basic express car service. Didi’s sample premium level fare for the same route is 27 yuan.
So far, the novelty of a free, self-driving taxi has drawn a number of regular users in Yizhuang. Wei said more than 20,000 users each take at least 10 rides a month. It’s unclear how many will keep using the service when they have to pay for it, but Wei aims to get an additional 100 robotaxi cars verified each year.
Robotaxis race for U.S., China approval
From the U.S. to China, robotaxis are gaining traction with regulators who hold the keys to letting the public take driverless rides.
Self-driving taxi operators like Alphabet’s Waymo have been testing similar products in the U.S., primarily in California and Arizona. Waymo can charge the public for fares in a part of Phoenix, and its driverless vehicles don’t need a safety driver.
On Nov. 16, Alibaba-backed autonomous driving company AutoX claimed its fully driverless robotaxis now operate in the largest single region in China — 168 square kilometers (65 square miles) in the Pingshan District of the southern city of Shenzhen. AutoX said it began in January to allow the public to sign up for robotaxi rides. It was not immediately clear whether there was a cost…
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