Chinese giant Baidu launched self-driving taxis in the city of Wuhan in August, and the cars are now allowed to drive in the dark, a sign that the technology has matured. These driverless taxis could run until 5:00 p.m., but now the schedule has been extended by another six hours.

Baidu has invested billions in self-driving taxis over the past decade, and the technology has come a long way. In August, in one of the districts of the city of Wuhan, autonomous taxis received permission to transport passengers without the presence of a person behind the wheel, and the traffic schedule was 9-17.

The schedule is now twice as long, 16 hours a day instead of eight hours, so cars equipped with video cameras, radars and lasers will be able to drive from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. They can drive in the Wuhan area. where a million people live. The metropolis has 10 million people.

Driving at night, in rain, fog or snow is a big challenge for autonomous cars. However, technology has advanced and some cities have decided that these cars can be driven safely even in low visibility conditions.

Most of Baidu’s cars are made by Chinese manufacturers FAW and BAIC.

In the summer of 2022, Baidu received approval to deploy self-driving cars over several hundred square kilometers in the cities of Chongqing and Wuhan, and the company expects to get the green light in other cities in 2023. Baidu says it will command the largest territory dedicated to fully autonomous cars next year.

TechCrunch, technode.com, prnewswire.com

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