Page 202 - 2022 White Paper on the Business Environment in China
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2 White Paper on the Business Environment in China
need so many EV plants and brands. Lots of merger as a future growth driver for the company as it
and acquisition deals can be expected (Ren). looks to diversify its revenue away from advertising.
The Chinese internet giant has developed a self-
Autonomous Vehicles driving software and hardware system called
Apollo which it looks to sell to other automakers.
Driverless cars will soon hit expressways for But robotaxis could offer another revenue stream
testing in Chinese capital Beijing, as the municipal if they are commercialized successfully. Baidu
authority has approved the gradual opening has been testing robotaxis in a number of major
of several expressway sections for unmanned cities across China including Shanghai. In Beijing,
vehicles. A 10-km expressway between Beijing's Baidu has started charging passengers for rides
fifth and sixth ring roads will be opened testing in its driverless cars around Shougang Park, one
first. Six other expressway sections will be opened of the sites for the Winter Olympics in 2022. With
later to add another 143-km stretch to the city's the BAIC partnership, Baidu will be hoping to take
high-speed testing roads for autonomous vehicles. robotaxis beyond just the testing phase and to a
The high-speed test of self-driving vehicles has a mass-market rollout of a service. This will pit the
high entry threshold. Testing vehicles should be company against ride-hailing giant Didi, which is
equipped with relevant devices and connected racing toward an initial public offering in the US
to a cloud computing platform for real-time data and is also developing its own robotaxis. Baidu is
transmission to ensure the safety of expressway also facing competition from a number of start-
traffic. Currently, the city has 226 routes for ups in China including WeRide and Pony.ai, both
testing self-driving vehicles, totaling about 752.4 of which are testing their own fleet of autonomous
km. Beijing has issued temporary car plates to 99 taxis in Guangzhou (Kharpal).
vehicles from 15 companies including domestic
internet giant Baidu and Chinese ride-hailing Plus, which went public in 2021, plans to begin
platform DiDi Chuxing. Among these companies, mass production of an autonomous driving solution,
Chinese autonomous vehicle startup Pony.ai, and PlusDrive, starting this year with China truck maker
Baidu have received permits to test their driverless FAW. The FAW J7L3 was jointly developed by Plus
cars with passengers aboard. Beijing ranks first in and FAW. With plans to reach full autonomy with
the country in terms of the number of companies SAE Level-4 autonomous trucks by the end of 2024,
applying for self-driving road tests, total unmanned Plus is also working with European-based Iveco
vehicles and the mileage of such road tests (CGTV). to jointly develop autonomous trucks that will be
deployed across China, Europe and other areas.
Baidu has partnered with state-owned Kodiak Robotics has partnered with South Korea-
automaker BAIC Group to build 1,000 driverless based SK to bring Kodiak’s autonomous truck
cars over the next three years and eventually technology to the Asia-Pacific market. SK will sell
commercialize a robotaxi service across China. and distribute Kodiak’s “self-driving” technology in
The Apollo Moon cars will be manufactured under Korea and China. TuSimple is based in San Diego
BAIC’s ARCFOX electric vehicle brand while Baidu but also has ties to China. The top shareholder
will provide the autonomous driving systems and in the company is Sun Dream Inc., an affiliate of
software. The companies said each vehicle could Chinese tech firm Sina Corp., led by TuSimple
be manufactured at 480,000 RMB (US$74,729) board chairman Charles Chao. The company is
each, versus the average of a 1 million RMB for focused primarily on the US market, but it is testing
an autonomous car, thanks to the maturation autonomous trucks in both the US and China,
in technology and mass production capabilities. with 50 of its Level 4 trucks hauling in the US and
Apollo Moon has a projected operating cycle of over 20 in China (Lockridge). The trucking industry
five years. It’s unclear when production will begin, sees autonomous technology as a significant
when they will be rolled out and whether Baidu, investment, having OEMs investing millions of
which will operate the robotaxi fleet, will charge dollars in research and development. Autonomous
passengers to use the service. Analysts see Baidu’s trucking is a huge business opportunity, and it will
foray into autonomous cars over the past few years soon become a reality. It is here today. The law is
the only thing stopping its global adoption. The
202
need so many EV plants and brands. Lots of merger as a future growth driver for the company as it
and acquisition deals can be expected (Ren). looks to diversify its revenue away from advertising.
The Chinese internet giant has developed a self-
Autonomous Vehicles driving software and hardware system called
Apollo which it looks to sell to other automakers.
Driverless cars will soon hit expressways for But robotaxis could offer another revenue stream
testing in Chinese capital Beijing, as the municipal if they are commercialized successfully. Baidu
authority has approved the gradual opening has been testing robotaxis in a number of major
of several expressway sections for unmanned cities across China including Shanghai. In Beijing,
vehicles. A 10-km expressway between Beijing's Baidu has started charging passengers for rides
fifth and sixth ring roads will be opened testing in its driverless cars around Shougang Park, one
first. Six other expressway sections will be opened of the sites for the Winter Olympics in 2022. With
later to add another 143-km stretch to the city's the BAIC partnership, Baidu will be hoping to take
high-speed testing roads for autonomous vehicles. robotaxis beyond just the testing phase and to a
The high-speed test of self-driving vehicles has a mass-market rollout of a service. This will pit the
high entry threshold. Testing vehicles should be company against ride-hailing giant Didi, which is
equipped with relevant devices and connected racing toward an initial public offering in the US
to a cloud computing platform for real-time data and is also developing its own robotaxis. Baidu is
transmission to ensure the safety of expressway also facing competition from a number of start-
traffic. Currently, the city has 226 routes for ups in China including WeRide and Pony.ai, both
testing self-driving vehicles, totaling about 752.4 of which are testing their own fleet of autonomous
km. Beijing has issued temporary car plates to 99 taxis in Guangzhou (Kharpal).
vehicles from 15 companies including domestic
internet giant Baidu and Chinese ride-hailing Plus, which went public in 2021, plans to begin
platform DiDi Chuxing. Among these companies, mass production of an autonomous driving solution,
Chinese autonomous vehicle startup Pony.ai, and PlusDrive, starting this year with China truck maker
Baidu have received permits to test their driverless FAW. The FAW J7L3 was jointly developed by Plus
cars with passengers aboard. Beijing ranks first in and FAW. With plans to reach full autonomy with
the country in terms of the number of companies SAE Level-4 autonomous trucks by the end of 2024,
applying for self-driving road tests, total unmanned Plus is also working with European-based Iveco
vehicles and the mileage of such road tests (CGTV). to jointly develop autonomous trucks that will be
deployed across China, Europe and other areas.
Baidu has partnered with state-owned Kodiak Robotics has partnered with South Korea-
automaker BAIC Group to build 1,000 driverless based SK to bring Kodiak’s autonomous truck
cars over the next three years and eventually technology to the Asia-Pacific market. SK will sell
commercialize a robotaxi service across China. and distribute Kodiak’s “self-driving” technology in
The Apollo Moon cars will be manufactured under Korea and China. TuSimple is based in San Diego
BAIC’s ARCFOX electric vehicle brand while Baidu but also has ties to China. The top shareholder
will provide the autonomous driving systems and in the company is Sun Dream Inc., an affiliate of
software. The companies said each vehicle could Chinese tech firm Sina Corp., led by TuSimple
be manufactured at 480,000 RMB (US$74,729) board chairman Charles Chao. The company is
each, versus the average of a 1 million RMB for focused primarily on the US market, but it is testing
an autonomous car, thanks to the maturation autonomous trucks in both the US and China,
in technology and mass production capabilities. with 50 of its Level 4 trucks hauling in the US and
Apollo Moon has a projected operating cycle of over 20 in China (Lockridge). The trucking industry
five years. It’s unclear when production will begin, sees autonomous technology as a significant
when they will be rolled out and whether Baidu, investment, having OEMs investing millions of
which will operate the robotaxi fleet, will charge dollars in research and development. Autonomous
passengers to use the service. Analysts see Baidu’s trucking is a huge business opportunity, and it will
foray into autonomous cars over the past few years soon become a reality. It is here today. The law is
the only thing stopping its global adoption. The
202
