Swedish automaker Volvo is to supply cars for Chinese ride-hailing giant DiDi’s autonomous driving fleets. DiDi, a Chinese Uber competitor with more than 550 million users and tens of millions of drivers, and Volvo have signed a strategic collaboration agreement on autonomous vehicles for DiDi’s self-driving test fleet.
Volvo Cars will provide DiDi with XC90 cars equipped with necessary backup systems for functions such as steering and braking, and collaborate with DiDi Autonomous Driving to integrate the additional software and hardware required to make it fully ready for autonomous drive.
The XC90 cars will be the first to integrate DiDi Gemini, DiDi Autonomous Driving’s new self-driving hardware platform and are intended to be deployed for ride-hailing in DiDi’s network in the future.
In 2020, Volvo Cars provided DiDi with Volvo XC60s for use in Shanghai’s first pilot robotaxi programme. People in certain areas of Shanghai could book trips by robotaxi in the DiDi app and be driven autonomously, while the cars were monitored by a safety driver and engineer.
“This strategic collaboration with DiDi Autonomous Driving is further validation of our ambition to be the partner of choice to the world’s leading ride-hailing companies,” said Håkan Samuelsson, Volvo Cars’ chief executive.
“Combining DiDi’s expanding robotaxi programme with our safe cars creates a great match to build trust among consumers for autonomous ride-hailing.
Volvo Cars’ partner-of-choice ambition comes as ride-hailing firms around the globe seek to expand their fleets with fully autonomous cars in a safe and responsible way. The reputation of Volvo Cars as a global leader in automotive safety is a strong asset as it pursues this ambition.
“In expanding partnerships with global automotive industry leaders, we believe shared, electric and autonomous vehicle networks will be crucial for future urban transport systems to achieve the highest safety and sustainability standards,” said Bob Zhang, CEO of DiDi Autonomous Driving and CTO of Didi Chuxing.
“DiDi Gemini, our new self-driving hardware platform incorporates critical hardware improvements from our test passenger service operations in Shanghai. With Volvo Cars’ leadership in safety, we look forward to achieving new milestones towards future autonomous transport services.”
DiDi Gemini
DiDi Gemini is DiDi Autonomous Driving’s new self-driving hardware platform. Based on DiDi’s massive database of ride-hailing data and real-world road test data, DiDi Gemini incorporates critical hardware upgrades including improved sensors, 700TOPS computing power, and ASIL-D rated fallback system. DiDi Gemini achieves multi-layered redundant protections to enhance the overall safety of our autonomous driving experience.
