Robotaxi venture to kick off production next year

China's leading ride-hailing platform Didi and electric vehicle maker GAC Aion's joint venture will produce its first batch of robotaxis applying high-level autonomous driving technologies next year.

Andi Technology, jointly owned by GAC Aion and Didi Autonomous Driving, finished registration yesterday with a capital totalling 420 million yuan (HK$454 million).

By combining Aion's vehicle manufacturing and Didi's self-driving technology, the cooperation said it is striving for mass production of the fully self-driving electric vehicle robotaxis.

The joint venture will produce crossover electric sport utility vehicles in 2025, the first commercial model in Level 4, in which vehicles can automatically drive under limited conditions, such as highways and parking lots, but drivers are still required behind the wheel.

Nowadays, there are five levels of autonomous driving. Levels 4 and 5 are the highest two tiers, featuring limited or no human intervention.

Meanwhile, US EV giant Tesla also announced it will unveil its robotaxi in August, together with the denial that it would scrap the plans to produce affordable models amid fierce competition with Chinese rivals.