Last year, Chinese tech giant Baidu established Jidu as an independent company and now the new entity is ready to unveil its first robocar concept. The Jidu robocar was teased in a short video prior to its unveiling in the first half of 2022, while a mass-produced version of the concept is expected to follow in 2023.
The Jidu Robocar appears to have scissor doors and, judging from the bonnet and the windscreen, a rather conventional car-like form. An interesting feature is the retractable LiDar sensors on the front fenders which are completely hidden under the bodywork when not in use. We can also see purple LEDs which could be a signature color for Jidu.
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Earlier this month, Jidu said that their first model will use the Nvidia Driver Orin chip and will be offering Level 4 autonomous driving capability. This is only a step away from being fully autonomous (Level 5) and far better than anything that is currently available on the market. Baidu is no stranger to autonomous vehicles since it recently presented the Pininfarina-designed DeepWay Xingtu Electric Truck that is also Level 4 ready.
The concept car will be fully unveiled at the Beijing Auto Show in April and Jidu claims that it will have a 90 percent similarity to the production version that will follow next year. Below you can see an earlier presentation from Jidu, where a 3D model of Baidu’s robotaxi was used to explain the nature of a robocar.