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In the past two days, Luobo Kuaipao has become very popular in Wuhan. After our friends from Pinjia failed to experience Luobo Kuaipao in Chengdu, we were unwilling to give up and headed to Beijing Yizhuang, a famous autonomous driving demonstration area, to experience the dazzling array of robotaxi here.

This time we will use random time and random routes to see what the differences are between different brands of robotaxi experiences.

Currently, the main companies engaged in commercial operations in Yizhuang are Luobo Kuaipao, Pony.ai and WeRide.

Order efficiency: Maybe carrots are too popular recently, so Xiao Ma is the fastest this time

After arriving in Yizhuang, we heard a rumor that the radishes in Yizhuang went to Wuhan to provide support. So if we experience the radish running here, the efficiency may be affected.

We placed our first order at 9:30 a.m., after the morning rush hour in Yizhuang had passed. We placed orders for the same trip on three apps at the same location. Each app would specify a pick-up point near the starting point, and the pick-up locations of the three apps were slightly different.

After placing the order, Luobo Kuaipao showed that there were 42 people in the queue and it was expected to be served in 10-15 minutes; Pony.ai showed that there were 9 people in the queue and no estimated time; WeRide showed that there was 1 person in the queue and the estimated time was 10 minutes.

After the estimated time arrived, LuoBoKaiPao continued to delay our time. After Pony.ai deployed the vehicle, the system began to display the estimated time of arrival at our starting point.

At the same time, considering that WeRide’s pick-up point is the farthest, we are mainly waiting for LuoBoKuaiPao and Pony.ai for this order.

After about 15 minutes, Pony.ai's driverless car arrived at the boarding point, and the LuoBoKuaiPao App showed that there were 30 people queuing ahead of us.

However, in the next two trips, Luobokuaipao and WeRide accepted orders much faster.Although there are fewer people queuing, including the time for vehicle allocation, the basic waiting time for the three companies is about 10-20 minutes.

It can only be said that the order-taking efficiency in the demonstration operation area is still suitable for those who are not in a hurry. Those who are in a hurry to go to work are advised not to take it.

Fees: Xiaoma is the cheapest, WeRide is the most expensive

First, let me show you the bills for the three trips:

Luobo Kuaipao: The journey was 3.3 kilometers and the actual charge was 7.41 yuan, which is acceptable.

Pony.ai: The journey was 6.3 kilometers and the actual fare was 1 yuan, which is really good.

WeRide: The journey was 1.4 kilometers and the actual fare was 13.4 yuan. I won’t take it next time.

Judging from the systems of the three companies, the travel costs are basically composed of starting price + time fee + mileage fee. The starting price of the three companies is 18 yuan, and the mileage fee and time fee vary depending on working days and non-working days.

The biggest difference lies in the different levels of subsidies offered by the three companies. From experience, Pony.ai currently has the largest subsidy level, while WeRide has the smallest subsidy level.

The price per order of Luobo Kuaipao and Pony.ai is lower than the current online car-hailing and taxi prices, while WeRide brings us back to the reality of robotaxi. It can be seen that burning money is essential for unmanned vehicles to run at this stage.

Comfort: Carrot focuses more on entertainment, while Pony is comfortable enough

Among the three cars we called this time, Pony.ai and WeRide are both driverless cars, and the Carrot Run is the fourth-generation Carrot Run equipped with a safety officer, an driverless car modified based on the Hongqi.

We also learned that when the fifth-generation CargoRunner is operating in Yizhuang, when users call for a car, they are randomly assigned to models with or without safety officers. In other words, users may not necessarily be able to call an unmanned car.

In comparison, Pony.ai allows users to choose driverless cars in the app, but WeRide does not have an option to check whether the car is driverless or not, but the car we called was also a driverless car.

From the riding experience point of view, the entertainment screen in the back seat of the Carrot & Robo supports NetEase Cloud Music and has some built-in videos, but they are only videos related to Carrot & Robo, so the entertainment value is average.

Pony.ai's rear entertainment screen also supports listening to music, but the resources are very limited at present.SennaThe modified models can already support comfort options such as in-car temperature adjustment and advance ventilation settings.

There is no entertainment resource in WeRide's car at present, and the rear screen can only view the trip information. During our experience, the temperature in the car was set to the lowest, and passengers could not adjust it, so it was very cold during this trip.

Safety: What if something unexpected happens? You're overthinking it.

The safety of robotaxi has always been a concern. In our experience this time, the process of unlocking the car door from the mobile app and fastening the seat belt before the journey begins is basically the same.

During the driving process, we also experienced unprotected left turns and pedestrians suddenly crossing the road. The system's response ability was very experienced. We did not encounter sudden braking or abrupt starts in the three stages of the journey. It can be said that the driving ability of unmanned driving is better than the high-end intelligent driving experience of human-machine co-driving.

Of course, this experience is also based on the cooperation between Yizhuang vehicles and roads. The infrastructure here is complete and the road conditions are relatively good, which also lays the foundation for the safe operation of unmanned vehicles. We also consulted the autonomous driving operation company. If an emergency occurs, the system will send instructions to the grid workers in this area to handle it. In other words, a lot of manpower is still needed behind the unmanned vehicles to ensure safety.

Finally, let me say:

In September 2020, Beijing started building the world's first integrated vehicle-road-cloud high-level autonomous driving demonstration zone in Yizhuang. Since then, it has attracted a number of driverless companies to deploy vehicles here for testing.

Xinhua News Agency mentioned in a report at the beginning of this year that in Yizhuang,Beijing's self-driving vehicles have completed 20 million kilometers of road test mileage in three years.

During this period, the test vehicles also experienced changes from having a safety officer, having a safety officer on the passenger seat to having no safety officer. Unmanned vehicles are constantly upgrading their technology, iterating technology, reducing costs, and improving differentiated services, which is also the core of the current upgrade of unmanned vehicles.

Here, the advancement of driverless technology and the management of autonomous driving commercial operations are ongoing. During this experience, we also felt the changes that autonomous driving has brought to travel services.

But has robotaxi revolutionized our travel? Obviously not yet.

For example, in terms of App fluency, from our experience, the levels of the three companies are still several orders of magnitude behind Didi, the current online car-hailing leader; for example, because vehicles must be at designated boarding and alighting stops, convenience is still compromised, and when there happened to be a large puddle at the place where we got off, the system could only remind us but could not respond flexibly; for example, driverless cars create a quiet riding space, but the entertainment value still needs to be improved.

In short, our expectations for robotaxi can be raised a little bit.