Baidu wants to get enter the autonomous car game and the Apollo RT6, an electric minivan whose steering wheel can be removed is the first vehicle it’s actually building itself. The Chinese internet giant says it has no fewer than 8 Lidar sensors, 18 radars and 12 cameras to allow it to drive without requiring the driver’s attention and all the sensors are actually integrated into the design of the roof.
The RT6 was conceived to be integrated into the Apollo Go ride-hailing robotaxi fleet, which it will join next year. Baidu considers this its sixth-generation robotaxi and this is the first one it will actually build itself, with Geely’s help. In April of this year the company got a license to operate these vehicles in China with nobody in the driver’s seat, although a supervisor still sits in the vehicle at all times.
