Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Chinese tech giant Baidu and GAC AION, the wholly-owned NEV subsidiary of GAC Group, on Oct. 26 announced the launch of a new version of the Apollo Moon Robotaxi, which is based on GAC AION's all-electric vehicles and Baidu's factory-installed autonomous driving system (hereinafter referred to as "the Apollo Moon AION version").

Baidu Apollo Moon AION version; photo credit: Baidu Apollo

On the basis of the ANP (Apollo Navigation Pilot) independent closed loop, the Apollo Moon AION version is capable of the driverless running under specific conditions and the autonomous driving in complex urban traffic scenarios thanks to a tailor-made LiDAR unit and self-driving redundancy design, according to a press release from Baidu Apollo.

On the side of vehicle hardware, the Apollo Moon rides on GAC AION's GEP (GAC Electric Platform) 2.0 platform dedicated to all-electric vehicles. Involving an R&D investment of 3 billion yuan ($469.91 million), the platform features a remarkable capability of autonomous driving software and hardware integration and is earlier for autonomous driving tech suppliers to deeply develop vehicle control systems thanks to its EV-focused essence.

Owing to the thorough upgrades of both software and hardware, the Apollo Moon AION features lower manufacturing cost per car than that of the former-generation cars, while its overall performance has been greatly improved.

With regard to passenger riding experience, the new driverless taxi offers users many smart self-serve functions, such as the separate control of four car door locks and the “one-click-for-customer-service”. 

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