Those who want to move to Beijing in the Yizhuang district, with its industrial units and skyscrapers, they can order an autonomous robot taxi without a driver.

It takes a while for passengers to get used to the electric taxi steering wheel magically turning itself. Unlike the rest of the cars, the robot taxi does not exceed the speed of 50 km/h. At the slightest risk, the computer sharply slows down the vehicle’s speed.

More than 30 Chinese cities have issued autonomous driving test permits. Self-driving taxis are mainly in China’s big cities. In Beijing, however, there is still a mandatory human in the driver’s seat, ready to intervene if necessary. Wuhan in central China, which became world famous during the pandemic, has gone further than the capital. The 100 or so Apollo Go taxis there move autonomously, without a driver. The provider is backed by tech giant Baidu, the Chinese equivalent of Google’s search engine. Customers call the taxi via app.

In Germany the legal framework is stricter

In Beijing, with its six ring highways and often congested roads, robot taxis are currently only allowed to operate in certain areas away from the city center. Taxi driver Hao sees no significant competition from autonomous taxis: “Beijing is full of people in a hurry,” he says. Robot taxis are not as flexible as real drivers, who can react faster to traffic jams and take the customer to their station or work quickly.

In Germany, robot taxis are almost science fiction scenarios. The legal framework in Germany is stricter and requires a high level of safety and responsibility of the systems, says Philipp Kupferschmidt from consultancy Accenture: “On the other hand, there is skepticism and concern on the part of consumers towards autonomous driving.”

Unsurprisingly, according to Pedro Racheko, an automotive analyst at market research firm Gartner, Germany has far fewer companies active in the field of autonomous driving. Today, only in Munich and Hamburg are self-driving electric vehicles of a volume Volkswagen in cooperation with the software company Mobileye on the road.

In Munich and Hamburg test robot taxis are in circulation

So what can Germans expect from this technology? Philipp Kupferschmidt expects a gradual introduction and expansion of the traffic areas of autonomous vehicles and robotic taxis. He estimates that for a long time yet the vehicles will have a driver or will be remote-controlled. It remains unclear, however, whether the technology will ever reach level 5, i.e. fully autonomous cars.

In Germany the necessary legal framework has already been established by the legislator. In designated and approved areas, such as an exhibition center, an autonomous bus is allowed to operate. Autonomous driving has been a concern of German automakers such as BMW, Mercedes and Volkswagen for years.

Even if the technology of autonomous driving will have to mature further and prove its advantages over drivers, mass self-driving tests are an important advantage, estimates German expert Peter Fiddle.

Editor: Stefanos Georgakopoulos