Chinese ride-hailing giant DiDi debuted the DiDi Neuron, an idea robotaxi. It has an arm within the back to select up luggage or get up sleeping passengers. DiDi is working with Chinese carmakers to develop its own autonomous taxis which it’s aiming to place into service in 2025.
DiDi Global
DiDi Global on Thursday said it’s developing its own self-driving taxis alongside Chinese carmakers and it plans to roll them out in 2025 on its ride-hailing service.
The Chinese giant’s autonomous driving unit also showed off an idea robotaxi, or driverless taxi, called the DiDi Neuron. It features a robotic arm within the back that may pick up luggage or wake passengers up in the event that they’ve fallen asleep.
DiDi said it’s working alongside recent energy vehicle automakers, which incorporates electric automotive manufacturers, to develop its robotaxi.
The Beijing-headquartered company also announced an autonomous trucking business named Kargobot, which it says has greater than 100 driverless trucks in operation. DiDi said the main focus is logistics and freight services.
DiDi also released two pieces of hardware focused on autonomous driving. The primary, co-developed with Chinese technology firm Benewake, is named DiDi Beiyao Beta LiDAR. Lidar stands for Light Detection and Ranging technology. Lidar systems send out lasers that bounce back and might measure distance. Those returning beams are processed by an algorithm to create a three-dimensional representation of surrounding objects — a key technology for autonomous vehicles to grasp their environment.
The second development is a computing platform for autonomous cars called Orca.
DiDi’s ambitious robotaxi goal and recent products highlight its desire to push beyond just ride-hailing into recent areas, including the event of autonomous driving technology.
DiDi arrange its autonomous driving unit in 2016 and spun it off into a completely owned subsidiary in 2019. Since then, it has raised outside funding from backers including SoftBank. The corporate has been testing its robotaxis in various parts of China. Last month, it began business operations of its robotaxis within the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou.
China has been supportive of the event of driverless cars. Governments in major cities equivalent to Beijing and Guangzhou have allowed firms from Baidu to WeRide and Pony.ai to check their autonomous cars.
DiDi’s slew of announcements comes after nearly two years of intense scrutiny from the Chinese government, in further signs a regulatory crackdown could possibly be easing.
The ride-hailing giant fell foul of regulators after it was listed within the U.S. in June 2021. Days after, Chinese authorities opened a cybersecurity probe into the corporate. DiDi’s app was eventually faraway from Chinese app stores and it was ordered to stop signing up recent users. Didi was delisted from the U.S. and is now in search of a Hong Kong public offering.
In January, DiDi’s apps returned to app stores in China, signaling the worst of the scrutiny was over. And last month, the corporate said it plans to expand its business to more cities in China.
