China presses ahead with autonomous taxi development

The Chinese Government has granted the first license to operate fully autonomous taxi services in the country.

The licence was granted to internet giant Baidu, which is now running a fleet of 10 driverless taxis in a 60sq km area of Beijing under its Apollo Go brand – with plans to add a further 30 vehicles.

“This regulatory approval marks a significant milestone for the autonomous ride-hailing industry in China, indicating a regulatory openness to taking a further step toward a fully driverless mobility future,” Baidu said in a statement.

The permit does not allow Baidu to charge for the newly-approved fully driverless rides, but the company says this is not a problem. “Apollo Go is not currently targeting profitability,” Wei Dong, vice president and chief security operation officer at Baidu’s Intelligent Driving Group, told local reporters.

“Instead, the goal is to allow more people to experience and accept this mobility option. When users get used to autonomous driving, the user base will gradually grow and lay the foundation for a good business.”

Wei added: “China is late to autonomous vehicle regulations, but it is moving fast.” He was referring to the fact that Google-owned Waymo has been running an autonomous taxi pilot scheme in Phoenix, Arizona, since 2020.

Baidu is not the only autonomous taxi start-up in China. Guangzhou-based Pony.ai has also been granted a taxi license that allows it to operate 100 driverless taxis in Guangzhou’s Nansha district, though the cars must have a ‘safety driver’ on board.

The company plans to eventually start charging for rides and gradually expand its service to other areas of Guangzhou, with fares comparable with a regular Guangzhou cab, accorsing to Mo Luyi, Pony.ai’s vice president.

Recent reports suggest the Chinese public has a favourable opinion about autonomous vehicles. A JD Power report said Chinese consumer confidence in autonomous vehicles reached 50 points on a 100-point scale, much higher than the 36 points of confidence among American consumers.

Chinese authorities are backing the technology too. “China wants to outperform other nations in autonomous intelligence,” said Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the China Passenger Car Association. “The government is encouraging the development of the autonomous driving business and launching a number of pilot zones.”

This will lead to more widespread adoption from 2025, when rules and regulations allowing commercial driverless taxi operations are expected to be introduced.

“After 2025, more cities will have policy flexibility to allow and scale autonomous driving,” a Baidu spokesperson said. “Once the national standards roll out in 2025, the industry’s supply chain will be standardized, bringing down the cost of the supply chain significantly between 2025 and 2028. We believe the commercialization of robotaxis will reach a peak between 2028 and 2030.”