The world’s largest trial of driverless cars is underway on the busy streets of Wuhan, a city in central China with 11 million people, 4.5 million cars, eight-lane highways and bridges spanning the murky waters of the Yangtze River.
A fleet of 500 taxis, guided by computers, ply the streets, often without safety drivers as backup. Baidu, the tech giant that operates them, said last month it would add 1,000 more so-called robotaxis to Wuhan.
In China, at least 16 cities have allowed companies to test self-driving cars on public roads, and at least 19 Chinese automakers and their suppliers are racing to establish global leadership in the field. No other country is taking such aggressive action.
The government is providing a lot of help to these companies. In addition to setting aside road testing areas in cities for robot taxis,Censors also restrictOnline discussions of safety incidents and crashes have been used to curb public concerns about this emerging technology.
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A survey by automotive consulting firm JD Power found that Chinese drivers are more willing than Americans to trust computers to guide their cars.
“I think now that it’s been launched, it should have been approved, so I don’t think we should be too worried about safety,” said Zhang Ming, owner of a small grocery store near Qingchuan Pavilion in Wuhan, where many Baidu robotaxis are parked.
Another reason China is ahead in the development of driverless cars is because of tight control over data. Chinese companies have built important research facilities in the United States and Europe and send their findings back home. But any research conducted in China is not allowed to leave the country. As a result, it is difficult for foreign automakers to apply what they learn in China to cars sold in other countries.
There are also security issues. As China grows rapidly, companies and regulators elsewhere are becoming more cautious.
GM’s Cruise robotaxi service halted U.S. service last fall after one of its cars struck and dragged a pedestrian in San Francisco who had been knocked out of the way by a human driver. California regulators subsequently revoked the company’s state license. Cruise has resumed limited testing in Phoenix.
Waymo, formerly Google’s self-driving car unit, is testing more than 200 self-driving cars in suburban Phoenix and San Francisco, and nearly 50 in Los Angeles and Austin, Texas. Last month, federal regulators notified Waymo twice that they were reviewing its safety.
Ford and Volkswagen closed their robotaxi joint venture, Argo AI, two years ago, but the two companies are still developing advanced driver-assistance systems.
Last fall, Japan suspended testing of driverless golf carts traveling at about 11 kilometers per hour after one of the carts struck the pedal of a parked bicycle. No one was injured. Testing resumed in March.
In China, at least 16 cities allow companies to test robotaxis on public roads.
In China, at least 16 cities allow companies to test robotaxis on public roads. Qilai Shen for The New York Times
No company has bet more on computer-guided driving than U.S. automaker Tesla. But its Autopilot system for highway driving, introduced in 2014, and its Full Self-Driving system for street and highway driving, are not truly driverless. The driver must keep their eyes on the road and their hands on the steering wheel.
But Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced on April 5 that “Tesla robotaxis will be available on August 8th.”
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Many Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers are introducing advanced assisted driving features on mass-produced vehicles.
On June 4, Beijing authorized nine Chinese automakers — including NIO, BYD and SAIC — to begin testing advanced driver-assistance systems that go beyond Tesla’s fully autonomous driving. At least initially, the tests will be conducted in restricted areas rather than on public roads.
Baidu and electronics giant Huawei are supplying some or all of the automated systems to many Chinese automakers. Baidu also has a joint venture with Zhejiang Geely called Jiyue to make robot taxis.
The screen of Baidu's driverless taxi displays the environment around the vehicle.
The screen of Baidu’s driverless taxi displays the environment around the vehicle. Qilai Shen for The New York Times
Baidu Apollo robot taxis with safety drivers. Fewer than half of the cars have safety drivers.
Baidu Apollo robot taxis with safety drivers. Fewer than half of the cars have safety drivers. Qilai Shen for The New York Times
The China Society of Automotive Engineers predicts that by 2030, 20% of cars sold in China will be fully driverless, and the other 70% will use advanced assisted driving technology.
Predicting how widespread driverless cars will become in the U.S. is difficult because it depends on how quickly automakers switch to electric vehicles. Driverless technology works much better on battery electric vehicles than on gasoline-powered cars or most gasoline-electric hybrids. Electric motors have less lag time and more fine-grained control when increasing or decreasing power.
In China, pure electric vehicles account for about 25% of the market share, while in the United States, the proportion is 7%.
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Like many technologies, such as electric car batteries and solar panels, Chinese companies began developing driverless cars by studying American inventions, but then made the leap to commercialization. In the years before the COVID-19 pandemic, more than a dozen Chinese companies established autonomous driving research centers in California, mainly in Silicon Valley. Some companies, such as Baidu, hired hundreds of software engineers. They obtained permits from the California Department of Transportation to test cars on public roads.
The companies moved much of their research to China during the pandemic, when Beijing sealed off its borders but allowed key researchers to return. They continue to work in China.
“If you take California out of the equation, China’s self-driving industry will be nowhere near where it is today,” said Michael Dunn, a San Diego auto consultant who specializes in China.
Baidu said it would add another 1,000 robot taxis to its fleet in Wuhan.
Baidu said it would add another 1,000 robot taxis to its fleet in Wuhan. Qilai Shen for The New York Times
China has been a huge market for Tesla and its advanced driver-assistance technology like Autopilot. But Beijing is now cracking down on any transfer of that data abroad.
In April, Musk visited Beijing to seek approval for his company to offer fully self-driving services in China. He struck a deal to keep all data collected in China in China, and obtained high-resolution maps of Chinese roads through a deal with Baidu.
China does not allow foreign companies direct access to high-resolution maps that are critical to driverless systems.
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Assisted or self-driving cars use tiny cameras mounted on their exteriors, or in some cases tiny laser systems, to gather information. Much of this data is processed by the car’s computer, which makes decisions about steering and speed.
While most data from cameras and lasers on cars is not uploaded to automakers, their potential to track people and map sensitive locations troubles security experts.
Europe and the United States still allow manufacturers to send driving data to China, but that could change. U.S. Commerce Secretary Raimondo said last month that the United States will propose rules this fall to regulate cars with electronic connections to China. Europe has also begun studying the issue.
Wang Yunpeng, head of Baidu's autonomous driving division, said he believed Baidu was ahead of Tesla in China.
Wang Yunpeng, head of Baidu’s autonomous driving division, said he believed Baidu was ahead of Tesla in China. Qilai Shen for The New York Times
Baidu believes it is three to five years ahead of Tesla in Chinese cities such as Wuhan, said Wang Yunpeng, head of Baidu’s intelligent driving business group. By running fully driverless cars in these places, Baidu has learned traffic conditions block by block, he said in a speech last month.
Cities across China, from the humid coastal ports of the southeast, such as Shenzhen and Fuzhou, to the mountainous metropolises of the west, such as Chongqing and Chengdu, are encouraging widespread experimentation.