Baidu aims to put a large fleet of mass-produced Apollo RT6 vehicles into trial operation on its Robotaxi platform Apollo Go in the second half of 2023.

Apollo RT6 has seven redundant systems including architecture redundancy, computing unit redundancy, and braking system redundancy, so that if any single component or system fails, the backup system can still function.

Apollo RT6 supports two modes: with steering wheel and without steering wheel. Its front row can be configured with seats, vending machines, desks, game consoles, according to different travel scenarios to meet the diverse needs of passengers for office and entertainment.

The model is both a car and a good driver, it comes with self-driving technology, equivalent to a driver with 20 years of experience, said Li Zhenyu, senior corporate vice president of Baidu and general manager of Intelligent Driving Group (IDG).

Apollo RT6 is equipped with Baidu's latest generation driverless system, with stronger L4 autonomous driving capabilities than its predecessor, which can handle complex roads and scenarios in cities, Baidu said.

The Apollo RT6 is equipped with a total computing power of up to 1,200 TOPS for the main and backup computing units.

The vehicle features 38 sensors, including eight LiDARs, six millimeter-wave radars, 12 ultrasonic radars and 12 cameras, to ensure high-precision, long-range detection in all areas, according to Baidu.

Baidu's robotaxi platform Apollo Go provides 196,000 rides in Q1, up over 11 times from a year ago