Self-driving vehicles have been depicted in sci-fi novels and movies for decades as the future. Now that future seems to be closer than ever in our daily life.
In the summer, robotaxis in China’s Wuhan City suddenly became a trendy topic as orders of Baidu’s robotaxi “Apollo Go” surges. In October, Tesla released its robotaxi models, vowing to launch the new models in June 2025.
Without a steering wheel or pedals, it is leaping forward even more boldly.
How far away is the self-driving future? How would that re-shape the world we are familiar with?
#ChinaExplained #2025ChinaAgenda #selfdriving #robotaxis #cybercab
In the summer, robotaxis in China’s Wuhan City suddenly became a trendy topic as orders of Baidu’s robotaxi “Apollo Go” surges. In October, Tesla released its robotaxi models, vowing to launch the new models in June 2025.
Without a steering wheel or pedals, it is leaping forward even more boldly.
How far away is the self-driving future? How would that re-shape the world we are familiar with?
#ChinaExplained #2025ChinaAgenda #selfdriving #robotaxis #cybercab
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NewsTranscript
00:00When you imagine the future, what do you see?
00:03Tech experts see cars that drive themselves.
00:07Who's designing this future?
00:09And what does it mean for you and I?
00:16This is China Explained.
00:18Self-driving cars are not science fiction.
00:21Several countries are testing this tech.
00:24China, the US, France and Germany, for example.
00:28Right now, each country is in a pilot phase,
00:31looking to draw up its own master plan.
00:34And China may provide a blueprint,
00:36because it's conducting what could be
00:39the largest self-driving experiment on the planet.
00:44China has issued at least 16,000 licenses for self-driving cars.
00:49In some cases, they're sharing the same roads as human drivers.
00:54The number of vehicles has been climbing for years.
00:57But demand really spiked in the summer of 2024.
01:01Self-driving taxis now operate in nearly 20 Chinese cities.
01:06Tech giant Baidu launched its Apollo Go service
01:09in Chinese Luobo Kuipao in 2020.
01:13Four years later, it had clocked more than 7 million rides.
01:17Not bad, considering it could only operate
01:20in certain parts of each city.
01:22Baidu is now planning to offer its services
01:25in 100 cities by 2030.
01:28Meanwhile, other robo-taxi services are emerging.
01:31Companies like WeRide and Pony.ai, to name just a few.
01:35Electric vehicle manufacturers are also looking
01:38to use self-driving tech in future models.
01:41The self-driving sector is revving up.
01:43But how do these cars even work?
01:52Let's talk nuts and bolts.
01:54There are different levels of self-driving.
01:57These levels are supposed to help navigate the path
02:00to complete automation.
02:02Here's the lowdown.
02:04The driver does pretty much all the work
02:06from level 0 to level 2.
02:08With level 3, the car can drive itself.
02:11At times, you won't even need to keep your eyes on the road.
02:15There's even more automation in level 4.
02:18In fact, most of the time you can sit back and relax.
02:21Finally, level 5.
02:23The car can operate by itself at all times.
02:26There's no driver,
02:28so no need for a steering wheel or pedals.
02:31Most self-driving cars today are fitted
02:34with multi-sensor systems.
02:36So, cameras, radar, and LiDAR,
02:39which uses lasers to detect objects and measure distance.
02:43There are other systems, like Tesla's FSD,
02:46or full self-driving.
02:48This relies almost entirely on cameras.
02:51But both systems come with strings attached.
02:54The multi-sensor systems are expensive
02:56and can be affected by external factors,
02:59like the weather.
03:00On the flip side, the full self-driving model
03:03sometimes struggles to process really complex environments.
03:07So, there are limitations.
03:09Sometimes it seems the robo-taxis are just not smart enough.
03:14And the fact is, some people have had issues with them.
03:17Hey, you don't want any?
03:25The idea of self-driving cars may work on paper,
03:29but imagine millions driving themselves around the city,
03:33each with its own plan.
03:35It could get very messy, very fast.
03:37That means we have to think big.
03:40Really big.
03:42China is working on a system that goes beyond self-driving cars.
03:47It's known as vehicle-road-cloud integration.
03:51This system will connect cars with each other
03:54and just about everything else.
03:56The road, pedestrians, cameras,
03:58and the IT systems running the cities.
04:01Maybe it's no surprise that China is working on this system.
04:05Its transport network has to support 1.4 billion people
04:10It also has a complicated web of roads linking cities to rural areas.
04:15Experts say the vehicle-road-cloud integration
04:18can manage this complexity.
04:20But to achieve this, China will need better infrastructure,
04:24satellite navigation systems, cloud computing,
04:27high-definition maps, communication networks,
04:30and, of course, rules and regulations.
04:33That's a long list.
04:35But China started planning it.
04:37That's a long list.
04:39But China started planning for this in 2015.
04:42The government has identified nearly 20 cities as pilot areas.
04:46That will allow experts to run tests
04:49on a road network spanning 32,000 kilometers.
04:53For context, the entire circumference of the earth
04:56is 40,000 kilometers.
04:59So yeah, they aren't cutting corners.
05:02But seriously, the results could have major implications,
05:05paving the way for smart cities.
05:08In these cities, live data shapes our movements,
05:11helping people get around quickly and safely.
05:14And smart cities look set to boost China's economy.
05:18The China Society of Automotive Engineers
05:21says these intelligent transport networks
05:23should add infrastructure worth $370 billion by 2030.
05:29It may sound super impressive,
05:32but it won't mean much if people don't trust the tech.
05:41So, will Chinese people use these cars?
05:45Research firm McKinsey published a report
05:47on the self-driving sector in 2021.
05:5060% of Chinese respondents said they would buy
05:53a driverless car if it was affordable.
05:56That's above both the U.S. and Germany,
05:59countries famous for their technical innovation.
06:02Let's be clear.
06:03China has faced its share of obstacles
06:06on its road to a self-driving future.
06:12Taxi drivers in Wuhan have said
06:15they're worried that robo-taxis will steal their jobs.
06:18The cars have also been involved in accidents.
06:21That hasn't helped their reputations.
06:23Traffic regulations are also designed mostly for human drivers,
06:27making it tricky to enforce the rules
06:29when there's no one in the driver's seat.
06:32But the surge in demand for robo-taxis in 2024
06:35suggests people are getting more comfortable with these vehicles.
06:39Officials are also looking for ways to build trust.
06:42Beijing, for example, released draft regulations in July 2024.
06:47Several other cities are set to do the same.
06:50All of that suggests China is unlikely
06:52to make a U-turn on its policy.
06:55So, it seems the sky is the limit.
07:04Well, actually, no.
07:07The sky is the target.
07:10China is also trying to develop so-called air taxis.
07:14These are unmanned aircraft that take off without a runway.
07:18They could transport everything from pineapples to people.
07:22And they could do it super fast.
07:25Chinese firm Autoflight completed a test flight in early 2024,
07:29sending its aircraft from Shenzhen to Zhuhai.
07:33That trip takes at least two hours by car.
07:36This flight was just 20 minutes.
07:39Sure, air taxis might sound kind of spacey,
07:43but a Chinese company has already secured a license
07:46to make them on a mass scale.
07:48This sector is literally taking off.
07:51Chinese analysts say the so-called low-altitude economy
07:54was worth $72 billion in 2024.
07:58They think it could double in size by 2026.
08:03There's no way to know how the streets of the future will look,
08:07but China's journey may offer some clues.
08:10It has a clear plan,
08:12and it understands that a plan means nothing without action.
08:21NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology