Baidu INC Showcased Its New Autonomous Vehicle:
The world’s largest search engine, Baidu Inc., showcased its new autonomous vehicle (AV) with a removable steering wheel, with plans to utilise it for its robotaxi service in China the next year. The new car will have Level 4 autonomous capabilities that don’t require human involvement On Thursday,
According to a statement from Baidu, the cost per unit will reduce to 250,000 yuan ($37,031.55) for the new model from 480,000 yuan for the previous iteration.
At the Baidu World conference, Robin Li, CEO of Baidu, remarked, “This enormous cost reduction will enable us to deploy tens of thousands of AVs across China.” We’re headed for a time when using a robotaxi will cost half as much as using a taxi does right now.
Alongside the car, the new vehicle will have twelve cameras and eight lidars, enabling it to operate autonomously at Level 4 without the need for human intervention. Lidars are detection systems, much like radars, but instead of using radio waves, they use pulsed laser light.
Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, indicated that the company intends to start mass producing its robotaxi without a steering wheel or pedals in 2024 and predicted that a ride in one will be less expensive than a bus ticket.
Waymo, a division of Alphabet Inc., also unveiled a robotaxi without a steering wheel last year. The business announced that it planned to bring its “fully autonomous vehicles” to the United States in the future years. Automakers and IT companies all around the world are still awaiting governmental authority to introduce such cars into the real world.
According to Baidu Senior Vice President Li Zhenyu, when the Chinese government approves it, the automobile won’t have a steering wheel. He also said that the new AV can drive just as well as a certified human driver with more than 20 years of experience. A number of companies, notably Baidu, which established its autonomous driving subsidiary Apollo in 2017, are aiming to make the widespread use of driverless vehicles a reality in China.
