China-based robotaxi startup Pony.ai said on April 23 it has slashed the cost of a self-driving hardware and software package range by 70%, as it unveiled its seventh-generation vehicle for its autonomous ride-hailing service at this year’s Shanghai Auto Show. The company’s latest-gen robotaxis cost 20%-30% lower than those from US rival Alphabet’s self-driving unit Waymo, James Peng, chairman and CEO of Pony.ai told reporters, without revealing exact figures.
Pony’s latest vehicle is powered by four NVIDIA DRIVE Orin chips, and features a sensor suite with 14 cameras, nine Lidar sensors and four radar units. For reference, the production cost of a Waymo robotaxi can range from $100,000 to $200,000 and Chinese tech giant Baidu in 2022 launched its sixth-gen robotaxi at a manufacturing cost of only RMB 250,000 (around $34,300), TechNode has reported.
The Nasdaq-listed, Toyota-backed company boasted that high durability and reliability was another highlight of its robotaxis, as all the vehicle components were “mass-produced automotive-grade ones,” which can surpass 10 years in lifespan and last for 600,000 kilometers (372,823 miles), Peng added.
Pony.ai partners with Toyota, China’s GAC, and BAIC for the production of the cars, and aims to operate 1,000 robotaxis by the end of this year, while expanding its autonomous ride-hailing fleet to 50,000 cars globally by 2028. It currently has more than 250 robocars and almost 200 robotrucks, mostly in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. The company raised a combined $413.4 million in its IPO and a concurrent private placement in November, with Uber becoming one of the investors, Bloomberg reported.
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