(Yicai Global) June 17 -- Chinese electric automaker Arcfox launched a new autonomous driving vehicle today in partnership with internet giant Baidu.

Called Apollo Moon and based on Arcfox’s electric sport utility vehicle, the Alpha T, the new car is equipped with Baidu’s fifth-generation Apollo self-driving hardware, which has Level-4 autonomous capability, according to the press conference.

The overall cost of an Apollo Moon, including the vehicle and driverless kit, is CNY480,000 (USD74,576), said Baidu Vice President Wang Yunpeng, who is also general manager of the Beijing-based firm’s autonomous driving tech division. The model will be able to operate reliably for five years, with an average monthly running cost of CNY8,000 (USD1,243). 

The two firms also penned a new cooperation deal today to deliver more than 1,000 Apollo Moons to Baidu’s shared autonomous vehicle test fleet within three years.

Established in 2018, Arcfox is owned by BAIC BluePark New Energy Technology, the new energy vehicle unit under state-owned Beijing Automotive Group. The Alpha T was its first model, introduced in October last year, with a price of up to CNY319,900.

Arcfox unveiled its second model, the Alpha S, this April, priced at up to CNY344,900. It cooperated with Huawei Technologies on the Alpha S, and there had been rumors that Huawei would invest in Arcfox, but the firms denied this last month.

Baidu’s shares [HKG:9888] closed down 0.9 percent at HKD184.2 (USD23.80) today. 

Editor: Tom Litting