AI company Baidu unveiled Apollo RT6, an all-electric, production-ready model next-generation fully autonomous vehicle with a detachable steering wheel. The company noted that the vehicle will cost around $37,000.
Integrating the company’s L4 autonomous driving system, powered by automotive-grade dual computing units with a computing power of up to 1,200 TOPS (trillion operations per second), the vehicle utilises 38 sensors, including eight LiDARs and 12 cameras, to obtain highly accurate, long-range detection on all sides.
Based on the Xinghe platform, the vehicle measures 4,760mm in length with a wheelbase of 2,830mm and rear legroom of 1,050mm with a flat floor.
According to a press release from the company, the new product has been designed for complex urban environments and will be implemented in China in 2023 on Apollo Go, the company’s autonomous ride-hailing service.
It added that the new product RT6 is distinct from previous generations as they were retrofitted on conventional vehicles.
The steering wheel-free design allows more space to craft unique interiors, allowing for the installation of extra seating, vending machines, desktops, or gaming consoles, the company noted.
The release said that the vehicle has been tested over 32 million kilometres driven by Baidu's AV to ensure safety.
Robin Li, Co-founder and CEO, Baidu, said, 'We are moving towards a future where taking a robotaxi will be half the cost of taking a taxi today.”
Interestingly, the brand’s robotaxi service provider has expanded to ten cities in China since its launch in 2020, including all first-tier cities, and provided more than one million orders, the release added.