Tesla CEO Elon Musk presented the highly anticipated Cybercab self-driving taxi, which would enter the market before 2027 with a price tag claimed below 30,000 USD. But Baidu (often called “Chinese Google”) has already started deliveries of its self-driving taxi in China. And its price is around 29,000 USD. It is the Yichi 06 manufactured by JMC.
Baidu is a Chinese internet giant founded in 2000. In 24 years, it has become the leading internet search engine in the Middle Kingdom. Chinese people even say “你百度一下” (“You Baidu it”) to one another when they need to find some information online. Just like we do with Google. So, it isn’t surprising Baidu is often referred to as “Chinese Google”.
Aside from being a big search platform, Baidu has many side projects. One of them is the Apollo autonomous self-driving car tech platform. Its software is mostly used by another Baidu unit Apollo Go. It is a driverless taxi service. It’s now only operating in China. Baidu also plans to launch this service outside China, the company announced on October 9. Tesla is better hurrying up with its Cybercab as Baidu already has its rival cruising on the roads. It is the Yichi 06 (Apollo RT6) minivan.
More on Yichi 06
Yichi 06 is an electric minivan created jointly by JMC and Apollo. It has a minimalistic styling, rear sliding doors, a single taillight strip, and four seats inside. Its dimensions are 4765/1885/1715 mm, with a wheelbase of 2830 mm. It has a single electric motor for 110 kW (147 hp) in the front axle. It is powered by an LFP swappable battery. The Yichi 06’s pack can be replaced in three minutes.
However, the main feature of the Yichi 06 is the six-gen Apollo autonomous driving system. Its hardware comprises 40 sensors (including 5 LiDAR units) and processors with a peak computing power of 1200 TOPS. According to Baidu’s officials, it supports the L4 autonomous driving system suitable for complex on-road scenarios. As a result, the Yichi 06 can be sold without a steering wheel inside. Similar to the upcoming Cybercab.
The total mileage of Baidu Apollo’s autonomous driving testing exceeds 32 million km (20 million miles). Baidu’s robotaxi fleet has operated 7 million rides as of end of July 2024.
At Apollo Day 2024 in May Baidu revealed it reduced the Yichi 06’s cost by 60%. Its final price is 204,600 yuan (28,950 USD). Yichi 06 manufacturer JMC has already delivered 1,000 units to the Apollo Go self-driving fleet. So, Yichi 06 cars are already driving on Chinese streets.
Editor’s comment
Currently, the Baidu robotaxi service covers 10 cities across China. It is worth mentioning that Baidu plans to launch its self-driving taxi service outside of China. So, Tesla could be late with its Cybercab. As the US Commerce Department plans to ban China’s self-driving car software, Baidu’s Apollo will not reach the second-largest auto market. However, if Tesla launches its robotaxi service in China, it will meet several competing AD startups, such as WeRide, Momenta, Xpeng or Apollo Go.
Updated Oct 11, 23:02 pm (GMT+8): Fixed typo, “it’s now only operating in China,” which made it confusing whether Baidu is operating outside China (it is not).
