Written by By Staff Writer
BAIC Xeotaxis , a Chinese startup working on self-driving robotaxis, has started offering the service in the Shanghai city center. (See video above)
Originally launched in Hangzhou as Mu-yuan, the firm announced on its website Thursday that the city centers in Wuhan and Beijing were also open for business. The service will initially operate only from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day, but the firm indicated that it hoped to expand the route by March.
Mu-yuan says the service will be the first commercially available “Autonomous Shared Bicycle” service in China. In November, Chinese automaker BAIC Group announced plans to launch a wholly-owned subsidiary, BAIC Autonomous Vehicles, to develop shared self-driving self-driving bikes.
A BAIC spokesperson told CNN that the new unit will be headquartered in Hangzhou and has so far received 14 technology partners, including three private Chinese firms.
A BAIC spokesperson told CNN that the new unit will be headquartered in Hangzhou and has so far received 14 technology partners, including three private Chinese firms. A BAIC spokesperson told CNN that BAIC and Toyota intend to build the first commercial self-driving bus, but the spokesperson warned that the mass production process could take “some time.”
President Xi Jinping has stated several times that China is committed to increasing the number of cars on the road, saying that the number of cars on the road was too low and the country needs to switch the focus from one car to many cars.