NO HANDS!

Robotaxi That Drives Without a Steering Wheel Unveiled by Chinese Search Engine

The company plans to have its autonomous cabs on the road next year.

China’s answer to Google unveiled its new autonomous robotaxi with a detachable steering wheel on Thursday. Baidu said it aims to have its futuristic cabs on Chinese roads next year, with each unit costing around $37,000—almost half the price of the company’s last generation of autonomous vehicles (AVs). “This massive cost reduction will enable us to deploy tens of thousands of AVs across China,” Baidu’s chief executive Robin Li said. “We are moving towards a future where taking a robotaxi will be half the cost of taking a taxi today.” The ambitious timeline comes after Elon Musk told Tesla investors in April that his company will aim to mass produce its own robotaxi without a steering wheel in 2024.