China’s Automotive Industry Reaches Another Level

Jidu plans to roll out the Robo-01 Lunar Edition all-electric robotaxi with Level 4 autonomy this year.

Robo-01 Lunar Edition electric vehicle by China’s Jidu Automotive will be the first production car with Level 4 autonomy. (Picture from YouTube video.)

Robo-01 Lunar Edition electric vehicle by China’s Jidu Automotive will be the first production car with Level 4 autonomy. (Picture from YouTube video.)

Jidu Automotive, a joint venture of Chinese companies Baidu and Geely, is planning to introduce a Level 4 autonomous vehicle, the Robo-01 Lunar Edition, this year according to IEEE Spectrum.

The Robo-01 is being called a robotaxi. You might have thought a robotaxi would be a dumpy purpose-built passenger vehicle along the lines of London’s black cabs. But the $55,000 Robo-01 is all-electric, has gull-wing doors and pop-up LiDAR sensors—and enough style and gadgetry to make any U.S. luxury electric vehicle (EV) owners envious.

The Robo-01 Lunar Edition serves a full buffet of sensors. It has two LiDAR units, a 5 mm wave radar, 12 ultrasonic sensors and 12 high-definition cameras, according to IEEE. (Picture by Baidu from Twitter.)

The Robo-01 Lunar Edition serves a full buffet of sensors. It has two LiDAR units, a 5 mm wave radar, 12 ultrasonic sensors and 12 high-definition cameras, according to IEEE. (Picture by Baidu from Twitter.)

“It’s a car, and even more, it’s a robot,” said Jidu CEO Joe Xia, downplaying the vehicle’s sexy styling.

Meanwhile, Back in the States…

At the biggest technology show in the U.S., CES in Las Vegas, the highest level of autonomy shown was Level 3. Mercedes was proud of being the first automaker to have a Level 3 system in the U.S. after its application was accepted in Nevada. Mercedes is “optimistic that California will follow soon.”

Level 3 autonomy allows for more hands-off driving in more situations than Level 4. Mercedes vehicles can now automatically drive around slower vehicles. In previous versions of Driver Assist by Mercedes, the driver had to manually turn on the turn signal for the vehicle to make a lane change in such situations.

Jidu did not bother with CES. China has its own events, its car shows, its own automotive market… and an EV market that leads the world. The Chinese appetite for electric cars is far greater than it is for American car buyers. China led the U.S. and Europe in the number of EVs produced and sold. China has over 300 electric car companies, led by BYD, and will sell more EVs than all the other countries combined. China has 4 million charging units, whereas the U.S. has 56,000.

For reference, the latest definition of autonomous driving levels. Copyright 2021 by SAE International.

For reference, the latest definition of autonomous driving levels. Copyright 2021 by SAE International.

The big unit numbers are, of course, buoyed with sales of cheap electric subcompacts, like the best-selling Wuling Hongguang Mini, a $4,500 two-seater. But China’s Hongqi makes electric cars that look like Rolls-Royces (the E-HS9) for far less ($110,000) and the 1400 HP S9 Hybrid “hypercar.”

China’s domestic market of EVs and hybrids accelerated ahead of the global competition years ago, says the New York Times. China’s car buyers seem to moving toward electric power as a primary consideration in contrast to the U.S., where electric is more the exception and still a novelty for most car buyers. In “For China’s Auto Market, Electric Isn’t the Future. It’s the Present,” the New York Times reports that while the United States reached a milestone with 5 percent of its vehicles going electric, China had achieved that mark in 2018.

Passing Mercedes

If you are surprised that a Chinese automotive company could pass the venerable and respected Mercedes in technology, as Jidu seems to have done with the Robo-01 and its Level 4 autonomy, you have not been paying attention.

To its credit, Mercedes did, with its first swing at an all-electric-car, come out with the $105,000 (base model) EQS, which received the 2022 World Luxury Car of the Year award. However, Mercedes is to date only able to reach Level 3 autonomy.

While Jidu’s initial news about the Robo-01 claimed Level 4 autonomy, that was not confirmed in more recent news of the car’s launch, with the company avoiding specific Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) autonomy level designations and opting instead for “high-level autonomous driving solution with full redundancy.” This probably has to do with the increase of liability with each level rather than the company rolling back the vehicle’s autonomous capability. Level 4 does not require a driver to control the vehicle in most situations and if something were to go wrong with the autonomous vehicle (AV), the auto company could be liable. With Level 3, the driver is always presumed to be in control and the AV company has been spared liability.

About Baidu and Jidu

Look, no hands. Baidu’s Apollo RT6 Level 4 robotaxi. (Picture from YouTube.)

Look, no hands. Baidu’s Apollo RT6 Level 4 robotaxi. (Picture from YouTube.)
Baidu L4 Minibus Apolong. (Picture from YouTube.)

Baidu L4 Minibus Apolong. (Picture from YouTube.)

Baidu, China’s search engine tech giant, in a way that is similar to Google with Waymo, has invested heavily in the AI used by autonomous vehicles. Baidu’s Level 4 Apolong bus has been servicing airports and campuses in 24 cities across China. By contrast, the U.S. allows robotaxis to provide service for two airports, San Francisco and Phoenix.

Baidu’s Apollo RT6, a Level 4, 4-seat sedan, has given a million rides in 10 cities. The Apollo RT 6 is shown often without a driver behind the wheel and often with no steering wheel at all. Level 4 allows for no steering wheel in some conditions, whereas no steering wheel in all conditions is associated with Level 5 autonomy.

From the Highest Level of Government

In 2014, China’s leader, Xi Jinping, declared that China was to be an “automotive power” and the only way to do it would be with EVs. While this dictate and support with government subsidies and incentives may have spawned the industry, the tide has turned to the point where customers are buying EVs for economic and business reasons rather than rebates, according to the New York Times.

In Chengdu, a businessman drives EVs because half the days the police prevent hydrocarbon-fueled vehicles from operating in an effort to curb the choking air pollution. Whereas with an EV, he is free to move around the city.

What’s Next?

The special edition is Jidu’s first car. Jidu is following a new trend for China’s automakers in producing a special edition before producing the base car, according to CarNewsChina.com. The “Lunar Edition” designation is a nod to the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program (CLEP), which manages all of China’s missions to be moon—part of the China National Space Administration (CNSA).

CLEP and CSNA not ringing any bells for you? Surely, they are not as advanced as our NASA and SpaceX? But the marketing boost Jidu hopes to get by associating with the domestic space agency provides a clue about the Chinese consumer. With so many customers available domestically, Jidu has no need to associate with an American brand—or participate in an American event (such as CES).

If China is passing the U.S. and Germany in autonomous vehicle technology, can the West’s vaunted but few remaining arenas in which it can claim leadership be in doubt? How long will it be before we are passed in innovation, high-tech, aerospace and military technology…?