An autonomous vehicle tech firm, AutoX partnered with Alibaba’s Amap mobility platform in April 2019 to provide Robo-taxi’s to Shanghai ride-hailers. However, the pilot program was only available to a limited group of users. Now, the partners have opened up the service to the public.
How does it work? Similar to the pilot program, ride-hailers can book a Robotaxi via Alibaba’s Amap mobile app. The only difference between the pilot program and now, is that there is another taxi service option called Letzgo.
The new service, which will have a fleet of 100 RoboTaxi vehicles, will launch in the next few weeks. In the meantime, Letzgo staff will be training in the operation of RoboTaxis at AutoX’s Shanghai Operations center. Once the service is open, ride-hailers in Shanghai’s Jiading District can order an autonomous taxi using either the Letzgo or Amap apps.
Like many businesses, AutoX made some modifications to its service due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some of which include voice recognition. For example, when passengers enter the vehicle, instead of using a touchscreen to confirm their identity, they have to say the last four digits of their cellphone number, and the voice recognition system will upload the appropriate booking and take off. Customers can then monitor their trip progress on the internal screen.
