Geely and Baidu's JiYue 01 takes the stage - starts at $34,100

Geely and Baidu have officially unveiled the JiYue 01 in China, signaling a new era in the realm of autonomous electric vehicles. This collaboration has resulted in the creation of the first consumer vehicle equipped with Baidu's comprehensive Apollo suite of Level 4 autonomous driving solutions.

In 2021, Baidu made a strategic shift from merely dabbling in software development to venturing into the physical EV production space. They formed an alliance with the global automotive powerhouse, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, commonly referred to as Geely. This alliance bore fruit in the form of the Jidu brand, backed by an impressive $300 million in startup capital. Further bolstering their ambitions, an additional $400 million was pumped into Series A funding by Baidu in early 2022.

Jidu's inception aimed at mainstreaming autonomous driving and advancing human-machine interaction technologies. Their flagship concept, the Robo-01, unveiled in 2022, boasted a distinctive internal voice interaction system. This feature facilitated seamless communication, integrating the human, car, and surrounding environment into one cohesive experience.

Shifting the financial dynamics, Geely recently upped its stake in Jidu to 65%, bringing the brand under its vast umbrella. Baidu, on the other hand, now holds a 35% minority stake. However, it's essential to note that Jidu remains a distinct entity, acting as a "technology facilitator" to its successor, JiYue.

The 01’s official launch is a testament to the strides made in autonomous EV technology. This vehicle was showcased at the Roboday 2023 event in Shanghai. Potential owners can anticipate two battery options, delivering ranges of 342 miles and 447 miles. Additionally, the EV boasts a swift recharge capability, refueling from 10% to 80% in under 30 minutes using a DC fast charger.

Under the hood, the JiYue 01 is available in both single and dual-motor variants. The dual motor delivers a whopping 400 kW of power, allowing it to accelerate from 0-62 mph in a mere 3.8 seconds. Another standout feature is the integration of Qualcomm’s 8295 intelligent vehicle cockpit chip. This chip powers JiYue's intelligent vehicle AI partner, SIMO. SIMO's capabilities are vast, from recognizing speech in a lightning-fast 500 ms to managing multi-modal interactions, including voice, gestures, and visual cues.

A game-changing (or a party trick) feature of the JiYue 01 is its voice-activated parking function. Picture this: you can instruct your vehicle to park itself or come to pick you up in indoor or outdoor parking areas from a distance of up to 2km.

JiYue 01 incorporates NVIDIA Drive Orin autonomous drive chips and a comprehensive intelligent drive architecture. This setup includes 11 HD cameras, 12 ultrasonic radars, and 5 mmWave radars. If that wasn’t enough, the EV offers a monthly subscription model, ROBO Drive Max. This service provides owners with a slew of advanced autonomous features, from fully autonomous lane changes to multi-lane obstacle avoidance.

Currently, JiYue's autonomous capabilities are functional on 90% of China's highways and in three major cities – Hangzhou, Beijing, and Shanghai. However, there's an ambitious roadmap to expand these capabilities to over 200 additional Chinese cities by 2024.

JiYue has announced that deliveries of the 01 will commence shortly, with prices starting from RMB 249,900 ($34,100) and going all the way up to RMB 339,900 ($46,500) for the top of the range twin-motor Max Performance version.

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