Chinese robotaxi corporations are pushing rapid commercialization backed by government support. As Chinese corporations aggressively move to target overseas markets, concerns are growing that China could seize the lead in the robotaxi market long dominated by the United States.
On the 26th, Bloomberg said, "Baidu's Apollo Go, WeRide, and Pony.ai are advancing more projects from the testing stage to commercialization than their U.S. competitors," adding, "These corporations are not only expanding operations in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Singapore, but are also exploring entry into Europe."
According to BloombergNEF, a research corporation under Bloomberg, there are currently 27 robotaxi projects in the testing stage and 26 projects in the commercialization stage in China. Of these, four projects have achieved full commercialization, and 15 are close to near-full commercialization. The United States has five fully commercialized projects, one more than China, but a total of nine projects in the commercialization stage overall, about one-third of China's level.
In major Chinese cities, fully self-driving cars are already operating. WeRide and Baidu have each launched fully self-driving services in Guangzhou and Wuhan, and Pony.ai is operating a driverless passenger service in Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Pony.ai has also secured permits for Autonomous Driving services in Beijing and Shanghai, and plans to expand its robotaxi fleet to 1,000 vehicles by the end of the year.
Pony.ai CEO James Peng said in an interview, "U.S. competitors started development earlier, but we are catching up very quickly." Peng said China's strong electric vehicle supply chain allows it to procure components such as sensors at low cost, and that a talent pool made up of graduates from China's top science and technology universities is a strength for Chinese corporations.
The rapid growth of Chinese robotaxi corporations is backed by full-throated support from the Chinese government. The government is actively fostering Autonomous Driving technology and has a policy goal of making China a global leader in self-driving cars by 2035. Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported that as part of efforts to maintain competitiveness with the United States, China resumed issuing robotaxi testing permits that had been suspended in the second half of last year.
Wei-Song Xu, head of the Connected and Autonomous Driving Institute at the University of Delaware, said, "The United States has developed under a market-driven approach, whereas China is mostly government-driven," adding, "It is difficult to judge who is ahead or behind technically, but no one has yet reached the level of fully operating even in severe weather such as heavy snow."
U.S. corporations still lead the field of self-driving cars for now, but ongoing technical problems are raising concerns. Waymo, a Google affiliate, is operating fully self-driving cars in five cities and is conducting tests in at least 10 cities. However, earlier this month the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened a preliminary investigation based on a report that a Waymo self-driving car operating in Atlanta without a safety operator failed to stop when approaching a school bus with flashing red lights.
Seizing this opening, Chinese corporations are expanding their footprint even in overseas markets first captured by the United States. WeRide and Pony.ai plan to launch limited services in Singapore within this year in partnership with local partners. Earlier, CNBC reported that Apollo Go will begin a pilot robotaxi service with Swiss public transit operator PostBus starting in December. Chinese corporations are also knocking on doors in Middle Eastern markets such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi that are promoting the adoption of Autonomous Driving.
Bloomberg said, "The current state of the battery and electric vehicle industries shows that the Chinese government is willing to invest generously in strategic sectors that require perseverance and massive funding," adding, "China's dominant EV industry, built over decades, is now becoming one of the potential advantages that Chinese self-driving car corporations can have when competing with U.S. corporations such as Tesla and Zoox under Amazon."