Also available 发自 Rongxing Street
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What car Baidu founder Robin Li is driving now is hard to give a confident answer, even for Baidu search.
But what Li is about to drive soon is the ROBO-01.
Yes, ROBO-01 is the first mass-produced car of Jidu, the joint venture between Baidu and Geely established to make cars. It is on the verge of being launched, and Li has already teased that it can be pre-ordered this year. With AI capabilities that are even more advanced than Tesla, the leading company in the industry, its price is set at CNY 200,000.
What’s more interesting is that the disguised ROBO-01 test car was spotted by netizens on the road during the testing of autonomous driving in Baidu’s Beijing Yizhuang.
In a contribution by Autohome users, multiple exterior details – wheels, lights, unique LED pixels, and logos – all suggest that this is a Jidu car.
So with the attitude of “listening to the wind and seeking the truth,” the Smart Car Reference went to Yizhuang for a visit and actually captured this car.
And even though it was wearing a disguise, it couldn’t hide from sight (manual dog head).
Waiting for a Car to Pass: What Kind of Car Is It?
Yizhuang, located in the southeastern suburbs of Beijing, now has more than 225 square kilometers and hundreds of kilometers of various road segments for open autonomous driving tests.
With such a large area, it’s not easy to find the disguised Jidu test car.
But according to the section information captured by the netizens, it can almost be narrowed down to – Rongxing Street. This is where many car-related companies have their offices in the Yizhuang Development Zone. For example, Mercedes-Benz is nearby, as is ZF… and Baidu has multiple businesses with offices nearby.
So, since Jidu’s car has been caught on this test route once, it should be possible to wait and capture it again by the roadside? Unexpectedly, just shortly after 10 am during normal working hours, the car indeed came by…
Actually, there are other disguised test vehicles on this road… but what makes Jetta special is closely related to the camouflage it wears – a white body covered with a piece of cloth, with some areas uncovered for testing.
It is also from these areas that Jetta ROBO-01 has basically taken shape in three areas on the production car.
First, appearance.
Second, smart driving sensor solutions and routes.
Third, cabin space.
Appearance
First of all, in terms of appearance, although it is an SUV, its ground clearance is very low, and it feels similar to Model Y overall. Even though it is based on the same HA architecture platform as the Xpeng P001, the Jetta ROBO-01 is taller and may have a larger interior space.
Second, the production car has rearview mirrors. The concept car that appeared before Jetta – claimed to have 90% overlap with the production car – eliminated traditional rearview mirrors, but according to current relevant regulations, it is not practical to completely adopt electronic rearview mirrors.
Third, this car does not have door handles. In the position of traditional door handles, the camouflage cloth on this car does not have obvious protrusions or openings.
Of course, it is also possible to use hidden door handles, but the “opening in the camouflage cloth” at the B pillar position precisely exposes Jetta ROBO-01, making it likely to adopt electronic door handles.
Electronic buttons, fingerprints, face recognition? It seems that all the previously proposed ideas in the industry are likely to be used by Jetta, and even intelligent high configurations such as Bluetooth keys and keyless entry, which are available on other cars, may become the “bottom line configuration” for Jetta.
But if it is really designed this way, will it be too simple and radical?
In short, under the camouflage, Jetta’s door handles are not visible, or they are not needed when getting on and off the car during testing.
Finally, in terms of headlights, the integrated headlight design is faintly visible, and the interaction light language design on the concept car has also been retained.
As for the rear part of the car, it is disguised more tightly, but it can be roughly determined that the test car retains the sloping design of the concept car. However, it is still unknown whether the concept car’s retractable tail wing is retained or not.
Intelligent Driving Sensors
The most frequently disguised part of the camouflage clothing is the intelligent driving-related sensor.
After all, it is basically related to intelligent driving when testing on the Yizhuang Road.
From the specific situation of the test car, the sensor scheme presented by the concept car should not have undergone major changes: 5 millimeter-wave radars, 12 ultrasonic radars, and 12 cameras.
The biggest suspense is the laser radar.
Previously, in the concept car, Jidu adopted the design of an adjustable laser radar on the hood, which caused industry discussions and debates.
But from the test car, there is no opening in the corresponding position of the camouflage clothing.
So will the Jidu ROBO-01 cancel the laser radar?
It is unlikely. Because Jidu has been saying from the beginning that it will not make choices in the automatic driving sensor route, and both are necessary for adults, and they are also independent of each other. Baidu Apollo does have such strength and confidence.
From the test car’s inference, the reason why the camouflage clothing did not open the laser radar may have two reasons:
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First, it may be due to the model. The Jidu ROBO-01, which will be produced and sold, may have multiple versions to choose from.
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Second, during the testing process, the visual scheme is mainly used, and the scene where the laser radar is used is limited.
As for the real answer to the mystery, it may have to wait for the Jidu ROBO-01 launch conference to be revealed, which can be regarded as leaving a suspense.
Interior of the Cabin
To be honest, the anti-peeping film of this car is too powerful…
The camera cannot even see inside the cabin, so exaggerated that the driver cannot even be seen… I once thought it was unmanned driving.
But when viewed up close, some clues can still be seen.
The most obvious one is that the steering wheel of this car is different from other cars.
From the front windshield, there is no steering wheel visible, so it is likely that the yoke-style steering wheel showcased in the concept car is being used — similar to Tesla’s S/X new Plaid model, except that Tesla’s Plaid version is not yet available for sale in China, and no automaker has used such a high-end steering wheel on a 200,000 RMB model.
The Jidu ROBO-01 looks good.
In addition, the ultra-long fish-shaped screen running through the driver’s and front passenger’s seats of the concept car also received a lot of attention, but it was not visible on the test vehicle, so it is unclear if it will be retained.
However, from another perspective, since Jidu has stated that 90% of the production car will resemble the concept car, the fish-shaped screen is unlikely to be part of the remaining 10%, since the rearview mirror already accounts for a portion.
So, this is what was captured, seen, and obtained from the Jidu test vehicle.
One more thing
Originally, when tasked with shooting the Jidu ROBO-01, the editor envisioned following the car and even catching a glimpse of the test driver exiting the vehicle to expose the interior.
However, the special nature of Yizhuang is that the traffic light system is very complete and similar to the previously discussed traffic light plan. It is very well managed, and there is light rail running through the middle of the pedestrian walkway, making it possible to shoot from the middle of the road.
The Jidu test driver didn’t notice us shooting the first time, but it was a little too close the second time… so we were quickly left with a brutal left turn, never to return to Rongxing Road Street.
It may not be easy to catch the rabbit by staying at the root of the tree.
But this is what the Jidu ROBO-01 looks like, with a unique disguise that is quite different from other new car disguises…
Feel free to take a picture and share it if you happen to see it. What if you encounter a version with a lifting laser radar?
Also, please be careful.
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This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.