Baidu's Apollo Go is actively expanding its autonomous vehicle fleet both domestically and internationally. The incident involved an autonomous electric vehicle from Baidu Apollo Go, similar to one displayed at an exhibition in Hong Kong.
According to the Wuhan police, preliminary investigations indicate the incident was caused by a system malfunction. In a major Chinese city, multiple Baidu Apollo Go autonomous taxis came to an abrupt stop amidst traffic, forcing passengers to exit the vehicles. This event has raised concerns regarding the safety of self-driving cars.
The Wuhan Municipal Public Security Bureau reported receiving multiple calls on Tuesday evening concerning Apollo Go vehicles stalling and becoming immobilized on urban roads. Police stated that initial findings point to a system failure as the cause. All passengers were safely evacuated, and there were no reports of injuries.
As of the time of reporting, Baidu had not responded to a request for comment from The Wall Street Journal.
Apollo Go continues to scale its autonomous taxi fleet globally, with Wuhan being one of its key operational cities. In the fourth quarter of last year, Apollo Go completed 3.4 million fully autonomous rides, with total orders more than tripling compared to the same period the previous year.
Analysts from HSBC Global Research noted in a report that this year is pivotal, as companies in the sector are expected to begin monetizing their expanding autonomous fleets. However, safety remains a significant uncertainty looming over the autonomous driving industry. Following the large-scale deployment of self-driving vehicles in major Chinese cities, such incidents are relatively uncommon among related companies in China.
HSBC added, "Although China has made substantial progress towards a commercial tipping point, there is still considerable work ahead to improve consumer acceptance."
Comments