The search engine giant Baidu Monday (August 8) said that it has been approved by two cities in China, and it can provide passengers with a full -time driver's ride -hailing service. These online car rental has no driver or safety personnel.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Baidu is the first Chinese company to obtain such licenses.The company said in a statement that it will provide this service from 9 am to 5 pm within the scope of 13 square kilometers (5 square miles) designated in Wuhan, and from 9 am in the 30 -square kilometer range of ChongqingThis service is provided at half to 4:30 pm.
Global autonomous driving companies are seeking to transform their technology into a public business and start making a profit plan.GM CRUISE LLC has obtained a license in June this year, which can provide pure driverless travel services that will provide charges from San Francisco from 10 pm to 6 am.In March of this year, Waymo LCC, a subsidiary of Alphabet, and Google's sister company, also began to deploy unmanned cars in San Francisco.These vehicles are used for free, and they are only open to their employees.
It is reported that since the local government has allowed self -driving tests in 2020, Chinese companies have been chasing the US pioneers.More than a dozen cities in China have set up pilot areas for enterprises to test autonomous vehicles on public roads.
Although China's regulatory agencies are eager to achieve a leading position in cutting -edge technology, they have been cautious about allowing enterprises to launch driverless online car rental services to the public, mainly because of security considerations.
Wei Dong, vice president of Baidu Smart Driving Business Group, said that the issuance of a license to highlight that the regulatory agency is relaxing policy restrictions. They have established some basic rules to manage this new business.
Last month, Baidu and competitors Xiao Ma Zhixing obtained permission. In a 60 -square -kilometer area in Beijing, they can carry out commercialized autonomous travel services on public roads.Equipped with a driver, but still needs to be equipped with a safety personnel on the co -driver's seat.Koma Zhixing was supported by Japan Toyota Motor Company.
Some passengers may be hesitant to the autonomous cars where the operators are not present at all.Jin Jianbing, an e -commerce worker of Beijing e -commerce worker who had taken a taxi taxi on Baidu, said that once this new service is, he will try excitedly, but will not use it when traveling with his family.
Wei Dong also said that in the fourth quarter, Baidu plans to double the size of the driverless taxi team in China to more than 600 vehicles.He also said that at the current unmanned taxis of each two services, one staff member has a remote monitoring.
Baidu said that the new service will use the company's electric SUV -APOLLO MOON, which sells for about $ 71,000 (about S $ 97,900).Baidu said that the plan to add five vehicles to new services in the two cities first.
The company released a car with a detachable steering wheel last month and plans to use it for driverless taxis in 2023.Wei Dong said that the price of this future model is about half of the Apollo Moon, which will help Baidu achieve a balance of revenue and expenditure.
China's first set of management regulations on autonomous driving began in Shenzhen on August 1.The city requires that the car that is completely unmanned can only drive in the designated area, and the service operator of this car will be responsible for traffic accidents and traffic safety violations.
