SHENZHEN, China听–听On a busy downtown street three delivery bikes suddenly dart over the pedestrian crossing ahead of the听肠补谤. On the听肠补谤‘s dashboard they look like small 3D blue blocks from a 1990s video game.
The steering wheel turns itself a notch and the vehicle slows to a gentle halt, while the safety driver looks on from the passenger seat.
The vehicle is one of a hundred sensor-laden robotaxis belonging to start up DeepRoute.ai cruising the dense central Futian business district in聽颁丑颈苍补’蝉听southern tech hub听厂丑别苍锄丑别苍, giving 50,000 trial rides to passengers in the last year.
While the United States is regarded as taking an early lead in testing autonomous vehicle (AV) technology, in听厂丑别苍锄丑别苍聽the industry appears to be changing gears, with trial robotaxis fast becoming a common sight.
Baidu Inc’s Apollo unit, Toyota Motor Corp-backed Pony, Nissan-backed Weride, Alibaba-backed Auto X and Deeproute have all been running trials navigating the city’s difficult environment, with frequent jaywalkers and ubiquitous e-scooters.
Shenzhen, a city of 18 million, has now brought in聽颁丑颈苍补’蝉听clearest AV regulations. From Monday registered AVs will be allowed to operate without a driver in the driving seat across a broad swath of the city, but a driver must still be present in the vehicle.
So far, Chinese cities have allowed robotaxis to operate on a more limited basis with permission of local authorities, but听厂丑别苍锄丑别苍‘s regulations for the first time provide a crucial framework for liability in the event of an accident.
If the AV has a driver behind the wheel, the driver will be liable in an accident. If the听肠补谤聽is completely听诲谤颈惫别谤濒别蝉蝉, the owner of the vehicle will be responsible.聽If a defect causes an accident, the听肠补谤聽owner can seek compensation from the manufacturer.
“If you want more听肠补谤s, eventually there will be accidents, so these regulations are very important for mass deployment,” said Maxwell Zhou, DeepRoute’s CEO, speaking at the company’s offices in a tech park near the Hong Kong border.
“This is not true听诲谤颈惫别谤濒别蝉蝉聽but it’s a big milestone.”
GEAR SHIFT
So far the United States has raced ahead in AV trials, with California greenlighting public-road tests from 2014, allowing Alphabet Inc’s Waymo LLC, Cruise and Tesla to rack up millions of miles in road testing.
But China has its foot on the聽accelerator, with Beijing making AV a key area in its latest five year plan.听厂丑别苍锄丑别苍聽wants its smart vehicle industry to reach revenues of 200 billion yuan by 2025.
In May last year Cruise Chief Executive Dan Amann warned President Joe Biden that U.S. safety regulations risked the country’s AV industry falling behind China, with the latter’s “top down, centrally directed approach”.
Deeproute aims to have 1,000 robotaxis聽with safety drivers聽on听厂丑别苍锄丑别苍‘s roads in the next few years, when more detailed regulations are expected.
But in a city with a state-owned fleet of 22,000 electric taxis from听厂丑别苍锄丑别苍-based BYD, where a聽20-km (12-mile)聽trip costs about 60 yuan聽($9), production costs for AVs will need to come down before robotaxis are commercially viable, Zhou said.
Deeproute and other robotaxi companies are banking on mass production to lower costs and gather data. Deeproute sells its driving solutions to carmakers for around $3,000.
Zhou looks to听厂丑别苍锄丑别苍‘s DJI Technology Co as a聽role model, with the company utilizing lower hardware costs and integrated supply chains to make it the dominant player in the commercial drone space worldwide.
On July 21 Baidu announced a new AV with a detachable steering wheel it will use for robotaxis next year, at 250,000 yuan a unit, almost half the price of its previous generation.
“We are moving towards a future where taking a robotaxi will be half the cost of taking a taxi today,” Baidu’s chief executive Robin Li said at the Baidu World conference.
FROGS IN A WELL
Shenzhen‘s supply chain and lower costs give it a major production advantage over Silicon Valley, but AV solution maker David Chang does not want to be constrained to one market.
“In听厂丑别苍锄丑别苍聽the capital cost is one third to California, because we have the battery suppliers, we have the sensors, we have most of the integration,” said the CEO and founder of听厂丑别苍锄丑别苍-based Whale聽Dynamic.
“But the revenue is one twelfth to California, so it might not be a fancy business to do,” he said.
Deeproute, Weride and Pony.ai also have offices in Silicon Valley, with R&D teams and testing in both locations.
“We don’t want to shrink ourselves into a well and fight with other frogs. We want to jump out of that well,” said Chang. – Reuters
