Chinese internet giant Baidu will roll out the first self-driving full electric vehicle with partner Zhejiang Geely Holding Group in about three years, Baidu’s founder and CEO Robin Li said.
Li shared the timeline on a conference call with Baidu investors on Wednesday.
Baidu and Geely Group announced last month the establishment of a joint venture to develop autonomous EVs with Baidu’s autonomous driving technology and Geely’s first open-source EV architecture.
Li, when asked about the timeline for the rollout of the vehicle on the conference call, said: “It usually takes around three years from the beginning to the launch of a new EV model. We will try to do the same for this new venture.”
The partnership is progressing well, according to Li. “We have a CEO on board, and we have decided on the brand of the new vehicle,” he said.
Li wants the automated EV developed with Geely to become a benchmark product and convince other carmakers in China to adopt Baidu’s autonomous driving technology.
“Most of the traditional OEMs tend to wait until someone else adopts the latest technology,” Li said. “That’s why we decided it is time for us to just build a benchmark vehicle to show how good the experience is.”
