Lyft is getting into the robotaxi game with a big Chinese company
Lyft is planning for thousands of robotaxis in Europe, starting in the UK and Germany by 2026.
This comes as the robotaxi race is heating up globally.
Lyft is teaming up with Chinese tech giant Baidu to bring its robotaxis to European streets.
The San Francisco-based ride-hailing company will deploy Baidu's sixth-generation Apollo Go self-driving robotaxis in Europe starting next year, it said in a Monday press release.
According to the release, Lyft will bring thousands of vehicles from Baidu across Europe in the following years. It said it would start with the United Kingdom and Germany in 2026, following regulatory approvals.
"By integrating Baidu's cutting-edge autonomous driving technology with Lyft's platform reach and operational expertise, we're excited to deliver safer, greener, and more efficient mobility solutions to more users," Robin Li, Baidu's CEO and cofounder, said in the release.
Lyft CEO David Risher added in the release that the partnership will bring the benefits of autonomous vehicles, such as safety, reliability, and privacy, to "millions of Europeans."
Baidu, a Chinese internet search engine giant, launched its Apollo Go electric autonomous vehicles in 2020. According to its website, Apollo Go provides autonomous ride-hailing services in 11 Chinese cities. And earlier this year, Apollo Go announced it would expand its robotaxis to Dubai and Abu Dhabi in 2026.
According to a July 2024 report by the Chinese state-affiliated news outlet Global Times, a 10-kilometre Apollo Go ride in Wuhan city costs between 4 and 16 Chinese yuan, or $0.60 to $2.20.
On July 31, Lyft announced its acquisition of Freenow, a ride-hailing service operating in nine European countries, in a move to expand into the European market.
robotaxi dominance.
On July 31, Musk wrote on X that riders could hail a Tesla in the San Francisco Bay Area and Austin.
However, a July report from HSBC analysts found that it could take years for driverless taxis to become profitable, and the market was "widely overestimated."
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