Chinese tech giant Baidu said on Tuesday that it has brought down the production cost of its Apollo RT6 self-driving vehicle to 250,000 yuan (US$34,525) per unit, marking a significant step towards making autonomous driving more accessible in China.
Speaking at a trade event in Wuhan, capital of central Hubei province, Baidu co-founder, chairman and chief executive Robin Li Yanhong said the RT6 is now the world’s only mass-produced Level-4 autonomous (L4) driving vehicle, highlighting the company’s advantages over competitors, according to local media reports.
“Tesla represents another technology road map … [it] wanted to go from L2 to L4, and is still working on it,” Li said at the event.
Global standards body SAE International has defined six levels of autonomous driving, starting from Level 0 with no automation at all. Level 4 represents self-driving where human intervention is not required in most circumstances.
Baidu’s Apollo vehicles made a splash in Wuhan earlier this year when its robotaxis attracted local consumer interest with cheap fares, although traditional taxi drivers in the city complained as they feared the new technology might take away their jobs.
