(Yicai Global) April 14 -- Didi Global has debuted its first concept self-driving vehicle, the Didi Neuron, which the Chinese ride-hailing giant plans to add to its fleet by 2025.

Didi is working with new energy vehicle makers in China on developing robotaxis, Meng Xing, chief operating officer of Didi Autonomous Driving, said yesterday at the event to unveil Didi Neuron.

The vehicle has no driver’s seat, making its passenger space 50 percent larger than other similar cars, and it has 86 percent more legroom, Meng said. It also has robotic arms to help passengers pick up water bottles, carry luggage, and wake them up.

The price of a Didi Neuron was not disclosed, but as a comparison, Chinese tech giant Baidu unveiled its robotaxi, the Apollo RT6, last July and priced it at CNY250,000 (USD36,480).

Didi Autonomous Driving is available in designated areas of Shanghai and Guangzhou through Didi’s latest app, said Zhang Bo, chief technology officer of Didi Global and chief executive of Didi Autonomous Driving. It supplements Didi's ride-hailing service, he added.

In addition to robotaxis, Didi Autonomous Driving has a self-driving cargo delivery service called KargoBot, which has a fleet of 100 trucks operating between Tianjin and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. It had notched up total revenue of CNY100 million (USD14.6 million) as of the end of March.

Didi founded its autonomous driving business in 2016 and established its first overseas artificial intelligence lab in California in 2017. The Beijing-based firm strengthened its focus on self-driving in August 2019 when it turned the department into a standalone unit to research and develop autonomous driving, apply the firm's products, and further expand the business segment. Its robotaxis became operational in 2020.

Didi Autonomous Driving has been safely operating for 1,020 days, with the unit's team growing three-fold since 2020 to nearly 1,000, according to Meng.

China’s self-driving auto industry has been particularly active of late. Hesai Group, a Shanghai-based global leader in light detection and ranging technology, went public in New York on Feb. 9, raising USD190 million, and on March 22 Baidu received approval as one of the first firms to test fully autonomous vehicles in Shanghai.

Editor: Martin Kadiev