SHENZHEN: On a hectic downtown street three delivery bikes all of a sudden dart over the pedestrian crossing ahead of the vehicle. On the car’s dash they look like small 3D blue blocks from a 1990s gaming.
The steering wheel turns itself a notch and the vehicle slows to a soft halt, while the security driver looks upon from the passenger seat.
The vehicle is one of a hundred sensor-laden robotaxis belonging to start up DeepRoute. ai cruising the dense main Futian business area in China’s southern tech hub Shenzhen, giving 50, 000 trial rides to passengers in the last season.
While the United states of america is regarded as taking an earlier lead in tests autonomous vehicle (AV) technology, in Shenzhen the industry appears to be altering gears, with test robotaxis fast becoming a common sight.
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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, along with frequent jaywalkers plus ubiquitous e-scooters.
Shenzhen, an associated with 18 million, has brought in China’s clearest AV regulations. From Monday registered AVs will be allowed to work without a driver in the driving seat across a broad swath of the city, but the driver must still be present in the vehicle.
So far, Chinese metropolitan areas have allowed robotaxis to operate on a more limited basis with permission of private sector organisations, but Shenzhen’s regulations for the first time provide a crucial framework for liability in the event of an accident.
If the AV includes a driver behind the wheel, the driving force will be liable in an accident. If the vehicle is completely driverless, who owns the vehicle will be responsible. If a defect causes an accident, the car owner can seek payment from the manufacturer.
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“If you want a lot more cars, eventually there will be accidents, so these regulations are very important for mass deployment, ” said Maxwell Zhou, DeepRoute’s CEO, talking at the company’s offices in a tech recreation area near the Hong Kong border.
“This is not really true driverless yet it’s a big landmark. ”
Gear shift
So far the United States has raced ahead in AV studies, with California greenlighting public-road tests from 2014, allowing Buchstabenfolge Inc’s Waymo LLC, Cruise and Tesla to rack up millions of miles in street testing.
Yet China has its foot on the gas, with Beijing making AV a key area in its latest 5 year plan. Shenzhen wants its smart vehicle industry to reach revenues of 200 billion yuan (RM131. 8bil) by 2025.
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In May last year Sail chief executive Dan Amann warned President Joe Biden that US safety regulations risked the country’s AV industry falling at the rear of China, with the latter’s “top down, on the inside directed approach”.
Deeproute aims to have 1, 000 robotaxis with safety motorists on Shenzhen’s roads in the next few years, when more detailed regulations are expected.
But in the city with a state-owned fleet of twenty two, 000 electric taxis from Shenzhen-based BYD, where a 20-km (12-mile) trip costs about 60 yuan (RM39. 60), production costs for AVs will have to come down before robotaxis are commercially viable, Zhou said.
Deeproute and other robotaxi companies are banking upon mass production to lower costs and gather data. Deeproute markets its driving solutions to carmarkers for around US$3, 000 (RM 13, 354) .
Zhou wants Shenzhen’s DJI Technologies Co as a function model, with the business utilising lower equipment costs and included supply chains to be able to the dominant gamer in the commercial drone space worldwide.
On July 21 Baidu announced a new AV with a detachable controls it will use for robotaxis next year, in 250, 000 yuan (RM 164, 989 ) an unit, almost half the price of its previous generation.
“We are relocating towards a future exactly where taking a robotaxi will be half the cost of taking a taxi today, inch Baidu’s chief executive Robin the boy wonder Li said in the Baidu World conference.
Frogs in a well
Shenzhen’s supply chain and decrease costs give it a significant production advantage more than Silicon Valley, but AV solution maker David Chang will not want to be constrained to one market.
“In Shenzhen the capital value is one third to Ca, because we have the battery suppliers, we now have the sensors, we now have most of the integration, ” said the TOP DOG and founder associated with Shenzhen-based Whale Dynamic.
“But the revenue is one 12th to California, so it might not be an extravagant business to do, inch he said.
Deeproute, Weride and Pony. ai also provide offices in Silicon Valley, with R& D teams and testing in both places.
“We shouldn’t want to shrink yourself into a well and fight with other frogs. We want to jump from that well, inch said Chang. – Reuters