China’s capital Beijing launches robotaxi routes to train stations | Wilnesh News

BEIJING – For three years, China’s capital has moved quickly to allow robotaxis to operate closer to the city center.

This month the city began allowing tests of staffed robotaxis operating 40-minute routes between a major high-speed train station and southern suburbs.

Zhang Ning, vice president of Pony.ai and head of the Beijing R&D center, told CNBC that a robotaxi service for the public will be launched on the route between Beijing South Railway Station and the suburbs of Yizhuang in the next week or two. He cited pending government permits.

Zhang predicts that by the end of this year or early next year, train station routes will be completely driverless, with no staff on board.

The latest routes mark a significant expansion of robo-taxi operations from Beijing’s suburbs to the city center. The capital’s motorways, known as the “Ring”, surround the city center in concentric circles.

The suburb of Yizhuang is outside the Fifth Ring Road. Beijing South Railway Station is located within the Third Ring Road.

Zhang said there is a perception that Beijing will not allow robotaxis to pass through the Fifth Ring Road.

“Now, we’re breaking that boundary,” he said.

“This is a huge step forward because Beijing is willing to take such a significant step and it will be a great example and showcase for the whole of China,” he said.

In November 2021, Beijing allowed self-driving taxi operators Pony.ai and Baidu-owned Apollo Go to charge for ride-hailing services to the public in Yizhuang, which is the first step to eliminate driver costs.

Less than two years later, authorities in Beijing allowed robo-taxi companies to remove workers from some public-facing vehicles but still charged fees. Users can call a taxi using a designated app.

In late February, the Beijing authorities Expand business scope Staffed, public-use robotaxis travel to Daxing International Airport near Yizhuang. In addition to Pony.ai and Baidu, AutoX and WeRide have also received operating licenses, according to government releases.

Zhang expects the city will allow robotaxis to operate north of Beijing Capital International Airport by the end of this year. He said subsequent expansion plans would cover four other railway stations in the city.

For Pony.ai, he expects to have more than 50 fully driverless taxis operating in Beijing by the end of this year.

He predicts that in the next two years, Beijing will allow robotaxis to operate between the Sixth Ring Road and the Fourth Ring Road, regardless of urban area. This will require Pony.ai to have a fleet of 1,000 robotaxis ready by the end of 2025, he said, noting that the startup is working with toyota Mass production of cars.

Once a city has 500 to 1,000 robotaxis, operations can break even, Zhang said. As it scales, he expects business growth to “be exponential over the next few years.”

It also depends on the pace of regulatory support. Zhang predicts that within three to five years, Beijing will allow robotaxis to spread throughout the city.

At the same time, Alphabet’s Waymo has also increased global interest in robotaxis. Expand its presence on the West Coast.

In April, Elon Musk announced Tesla will Robotaxis launched on August 8.

When asked about Musk’s plans, Zhang said Pony.ai hopes Tesla’s involvement in the industry can help “reshape” transportation. But in his opinion, he said Tesla’s fully autonomous driving technology is more suitable for assisted driving rather than a completely driverless system.

As for other Chinese robotaxi players, Zhang does not expect fierce competition in the next few years because the emerging industry is still in the process of development.

Baidu says Apollo Go Approximately 826,000 trips operated The number of rides in the first quarter was up from 660,000 in the same period last year. As of April 19, the cumulative number of rides has exceeded 6 million.

During Baidu’s latest earnings call, Chief Executive Robin Li said the company expected its robotaxi business to narrow its losses for the remainder of the year, according to FactSet records. Baidu’s latest robotaxi costs less than $30,000, not including batteries, he added.