Chinese internet giant Baidu has signed an agreement with major global carmakers, Volvo and Ford, that will help put China at the centre of a massive autonomous electric car market push.
The two auto giants announced agreements with the Chinese internet company this week, which has already been testing its self-driving technology, dubbed Project Apollo, both in China and the US.
The move by both companies is calculated; China has already been proven as the largest market in the world for electric cars, and Bloomberg New Energy Finance predicts this trend will see it grab a staggering 42 per cent share of the global EV market by June 2019.
Analysts predict that China will be a centre for autonomous driving also, with the potential for 14.5 million autonomous vehicles – almost half the predicted global volume of 33 million – to be sold there alone.
Swedish carmaker Volvo will be providing its automotive expertise to Baidu, and says that its choice to partner with the Chinese internet giant is based around a common goal of safety.
“With Baidu we take a big step forward in commercialising our autonomous compatible cars, built on Volvo’s industry-leading safety technology,” said Volvo president and chief exec Håkan Samuelsson.
Read the full story on RenewEconomy’s electric vehicle-dedicated site, The Driven…
You can also sign up to TheDriven’s regular, and free, newsletter here.
The Climate Change Authority has welcomed the introduction of "substantial" policies by the Albanese government…
New tender for 6 GW for wind and solar opens, as Climate Authority calls for…
Health care workers and medical groups are calling on the federal government to kick start…
New LNP government commits $1.4 billion to the upkeep of state's ageing coal fleet, and…
The US-based coal miner has just paid over $A5 billion dollars to acquire some of…
Manufacturer of wind farm anchor cages wants governments to "get out of the way" and…