Didi Robotaxi Archives - Gizmochina

Didi Introduces “Didi Neuron”: A RoboTaxi Concept with Robotic Arms

Oğuz Çakır — Fri, 14 Apr 2023 12:57:42 +0000

Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Global recently revealed its innovative robotaxi concept car, the “Didi Neuron,” at a virtual company event. This futuristic vehicle aims to enhance the passenger experience with robotic arms that can help carry luggage and retrieve items like water bottles. Here are the details…

Didi Global Introduces RoboTaxi “Didi Neuron”

Didi Autonomous Driving COO Meng Xing showcased the eye-catching blue and white vehicle, which is part of Didi’s ambitious plan to develop their own robotaxis in collaboration with local Chinese carmakers. The goal is to have these autonomous vehicles operational and integrated into Didi’s network by 2025.

Meng Xing emphasized Didi’s commitment to local production, stating, “We hope they will be domestically produced. We hope the supply chain is controllable, and even 90% of the key components inside can be domestically produced.”

The Didi Neuron concept car removes the need for a driver’s seat, providing more space for passengers. Its most distinctive feature, the robotic arms, highlights Didi’s dedication to offering innovative and convenient services. The company also unveiled a lidar sensor and a car computing device at the event, showcasing Didi’s progress in autonomous driving technology after nearly two years of overcoming regulatory challenges.

Didi’s journey into autonomous vehicles began in 2016. Since then, their AV unit has attracted significant investments from firms like IDG Capital and Guotai Junan. The company currently provides self-driving cars in select areas of Shanghai and Guangzhou through its main app, with Swedish carmaker Volvo, owned by Geely, supplying Didi’s autonomous fleet.

However, Didi has faced regulatory hurdles in recent years. In 2021, after the company proceeded with a U.S. stock listing against the wishes of Chinese regulators, it faced a cybersecurity investigation that led to the removal of its 25 mobile apps from app stores and the suspension of new user registration. Subsequently, Didi delisted from New York and received a $1.2 billion fine for data-security breaches. Fortunately, the company was allowed to resume new user registrations in January.

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Volvo to supply its XC90 model for Didi’s Robotaxi fleet in China

Jed John Ikoba — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 15:51:15 +0000

Didi has announced plans to configure Volvo’s XC90 SUVs for its new fleet of autonomous vehicles to be deployed on Chinese roads. The global Robotaxi rollout of the ride-hailing app, which acquired Uber China in 2016, is in line with its business development strategy. The company continues to make investments in deploying autonomous vehicles to Chinese public roads.

Volvo is owned by Chinese automaker Geely, since its acquisition in 2010. The Swedish automaker has a track record of safety and luxury in vehicle manufacturing. Didi will leverage this by combining its self-driving system, called Gemini, with Volvo’s safety and convenience features to produce a car that will no longer need safety drivers, with a backup to bring a car to a halt in situations of system failure.

Didi also offers a range of mobility services and added services like financial services to its drivers, and continues to expand. The company recently flagged its initial public offering of $100 billion, targeting research to enhance and expand its mobility service portfolio to include the driverless XC90 SUVs already customized for autonomous driving.

As should be expected, there is stiff competition in the world’s largest auto market for self-driving vehicles. The Robotaxis was pioneered by AutoX a couple of years ago, and some other companies have entered the market, offering a variety of services to a wide array of customers. Huawei last week also signaled its desires in the market with the unveiling of its homemade HarmonyOS operating system, thus opening new vistas in self-driving and autonomous vehicle development in China.

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Didi seeks to raise $6 billion for its self driving unit: Report

Sean — Tue, 30 Mar 2021 10:19:51 +0000

Didi Chuxing is apparently raising funds for the growth of its autonomous driving unit. The company is seeking to raise 6 billion US Dollars in an attempt to rival Uber, who is trying to diversify beyond its core businesses ahead of an anticipated initial public offering later this year.

According to a SCMP report, the Chinese ride hailing giant is planning on raising about 500 million US Dollars at a valuation of roughly 6 billion US Dollars. As per sources close to the matter, the funds raised will help Didi speed up its mass production of self driving vehicles and invest in technologies like artificial intelligence chips and more. Although, the plans for this fundraising could still change as considerations are at an early stages as per sources.

Unfortunately, a representative from the company declines to comment on this news. The attempt from Didi is an answer to Uber, as the former tries to grow its presence in strategically important sectors like autonomous vehicles prior to the company going public. This is also possible going to be one of the largest tech IPOs across the globe this year.

Furthermore, the company is targeting a valuation above the 62 billion US Dollars it had secured during its latest funding round by accelerating its pace just prior to its debut as a public company within the next quarter. The company began testing autonomous vehicles back in 2016 before separating the unit as a separate company in 2019 and aims on operating over 1 million self driving taxis by the year 2030.

Baidu obtains permit to start testing paid Robotaxi services in Cangzhou, China

Jed John Ikoba — Wed, 17 Mar 2021 03:49:43 +0000

Chinese tech giant Baidu could be regarded as the Google of China. Its search engine is the largest in China and the company is also spreading its tentacles into other tech sectors just like Google. Baidu last year commenced testing of its autonomous vehicles that would be deployed as Robotaxis in China’s Cangzhou.

News filtering in now is that the company is now set to take the project to the next level. Baidu has now reportedly secured approval to commence paid ride services for the autonomous vehicles in the same city of Cangzhou, China. The city which is about 149 miles south of Beijing reportedly gave the nod for Baidu’s Apollo Go robotaxi service to run commercialization tests. The tests will be carried out with 35 cars that will have safety drivers behind the wheels but there is an additional 10 vehicles that are approved to be run fully driverless.

While Baidu isn’t the first company to trial Robotaxi services in China (AutoX is also doing the same), it boasts of being the first to start testing a paid commercial robotaxi service. Before now, the company had offered free rides on its robotaxi while it is test-running the service. In addition, this is the first time the city is granting permission to a company to test fully driverless vehicles on the city’s roads. Previous tests involved having safety drivers behind the wheels.

Baidu was required to complete 50,000 kilometers (31,068 miles) of testing on local roads for its robotaxi before the permit to monetize the services was granted. However, the company disclosed that its fleet in Cangzhou was able to accumulate a staggering ~326,030 miles as of the beginning of March.

Baidu is also testing its robotaxi in Bejing and Changsha, the capital of China’s Hunan province. The firm is eyeing further expansion to 30 more cities within the next three years. Outside China, Baidu is also testing driverless vehicles in California.

Recall that AutoX a couple of months back shared a video of its robotaxi in action in China.

Chinese AV startups Didi and AutoX set to launch robotaxi pilot programs in May

Jed John Ikoba — Thu, 16 Apr 2020 14:45:56 +0000

With 5G technology, autonomous vehicles are fast becoming a reality and Chinese firms are at the forefront. Two of China’s leading self-driving car firms Didi Chuxing and AutoX are reportedly set to launch their own autonomous ride-hailing pilot projects. According to a TecNode report, two sources familiar with the matter hinted that the pilot projects will commence in late May in the outskirts of Shanghai.

The projects run separately even though both firms were reported to have commenced their partnerships with the Shanghai government around the same time.

The race to be among the first to launch commercial autonomous ride-hailing cabs have been raging in China with Pony.ai and Baidu at the forefront. AutoX and Didi are aiming to become among the first to get the nod to commercialize its Robotaxi operations.

When contacted to confirm the news, a company representative told TechNode that Didi was actively testing robo-taxi in Shanghai and hopes to launch the pilot service as soon as possible.

On the other hand, AutoX announced Friday, the opening of what it claimed is Asia’s largest robotaxi operations centre in Shanghai. The centre sits in an area spanning 750 square meters and located in the northwestern Jiading district. The operation is expected to collect and process “petabytes” of driving data from road testing in Shanghai each week. In addition, the operation will also be deployed for performance training simulations in a virtual traffic environment. It will also house facilities to test hardware in climate conditions such as high-pressure water and high temperature.

AutoX claims that users “will soon be able to hail a ride” in its autonomous vehicles but the app is yet to be unveiled.