Baidu to Launch its Robotaxi in China Starting in 2023

Among the giants of Chinese electronics, Baidu showcases its first dedicated car, the Apollo RT6, an autonomous electric minivan.

After five generations of autonomous driving systems based on existing cars, Baidu takes a new step. Its subsidiary Apollo now operates on its own vehicles. These use the proprietary technical platform “Xinghe.” The first is a 100% electric minivan named RT6.

An Autonomous Baidu Minivan

Measuring 4.76 meters long, as much as a Tesla Model Y, this shuttle features autonomous driving with a retractable steering wheel. However, it offers only two seats in robotaxi configuration (without steering wheel) despite the interior space. Instead of front seats, Apollo prefers storage compartments or laptop stands.

To operate, the Apollo RT6 is equipped with 38 sensors including twelve cameras, twelve ultrasonic radars, six microwave radars, and eight LiDARs. Data is processed by an onboard computer capable of up to 1,200 TOPS (trillions of operations per second), and can handle complex urban environments (unlike Tesla or Mercedes-Benz, for example). According to Li Zhenyu, the head of the project, this robotaxi would be similar to “a driver with 20 years of driving experience.”

An Autonomous Car at the Price of a Mégane E-Tech?

Until now, autonomous vehicles were expensive to produce. Last year, Baidu announced that a unit of the Apollo Moon, its fifth generation, cost approximately 75,000 euros each. It was based on an electric Arcfox SUV (BAIC group). The Apollo RT6 would halve that cost, amounting to about 250,000 yuan (or 37,000 euros) per unit. That’s just as much as a basic Renault Mégane E-Tech!

“This massive cost reduction will enable us to deploy tens of thousands of autonomous vehicles in China,” said Baidu founder and CEO Robin Li, “we are heading towards a future where riding a robotaxi will cost half of what a taxi does today.”

The release of this Apollo RT6 is scheduled for the second half of 2023. Baidu foresees up to 100,000 units produced annually. In the meantime, its Apollo Go robotaxi service has approached 200,000 trips in a single quarter and exceeded one million in total. It will expand to 65 cities in 2025, then to 100 by 2030.

Alongside the RT6, Baidu is developing an autonomous electric minibus. The group also revealed a concept of the Apollo “Robocar” autonomous vehicle that carried the Olympic torch at the Beijing Winter Olympics.

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