China's biggest car rental company now offers autonomous cars

China’s largest car rental operator, Car Inc., now rents autonomous cars. The company, also known as “Zuche”, is using cars from Chinese tech giant Baidu for the service. China’s government let Baidu’s “Apollo” cars hit the road in 2021, albeit in very small sections of Beijing. The driverless cars now provide taxi service in …

[An_Old_Dog]

Zuche Makin' Money

Rental fees: reasonable.

Roadside assistance fees: now, that is the profit center.

[Ken G]

Re: Zuche Makin' Money

It's the bar bills that'll kill you.

[wolfetone]

It's incredible that China can do this, while all America seem to be doing is bringing back Hitler via Grok AI.

But yeah I forget, China are bad apparently.

[O'Reg Inalsin]

Where does a taxi stop and rental begin?

[wolfetone]

10 miles.

If I go by my wife asking me for a lift to the train station, or to take her to a town. She'll give me petrol money for the latter, but the former is just to save her from an Uber.

[O'Reg Inalsin]

If you take her to town I hope you get something more than petrol money - I mean long term relationship benefits that come with being married for 10 years. I suppose self driving could help share cars (essentially rental) make a comeback, but I'm not sure about that. Share cars have got to be more expensive because they have more down time. I would go the other way - expecting bus-taxi hybrids seating 10 or more people to actually become economically viable with self driving.

[Kurgan]

China is bad, but it all depends on the meaning of "bad".

China is bad for human rights, for privacy, for freedom.

China is VERY GOOD at scientific progress, research, economic growth. This is because while it's far from perfect, it works as a whole. The government helps scientific research instead of hindering it, and if this means that someone will have an accident. they don't care. Which is wrong but it makes science progress much faster. Once the government considers people as expendable resources, it can achieve much more in much less time.

America WAS good for human rights, freedom, economics, and science, and now it's no more. Now it's good for nothing.

[wolfetone]

American criticism if good for a down vote, don't forget that!

[Kurgan]

You mean Trump criticism.

But I see how it works: criticize the shitshow that is current America, get immediately down voted by maga drones.

[blu3b3rry]

Donald is simply dragging the country down to his own level.

[Citizen of Nowhere]

>China is bad for human rights, for privacy, for freedom.

The good ol' US of A doesn't seem particularly good for any of those either.

[Anonymous Coward]

Clueless

Just because you DNC guys and your oligarch overlords have lost power, means very little to nothing.

Those who are a serious nuisance in China are expedited to a GULAG.

Get a grip, pampered man.

[Ken G]

Re: Clueless

Most of us aren't american on this site.

[Andrew Scott]

sounds like medical practice in the concentration camps. if there was an accident, no one cared.

[Fruit and Nutcase]

Tiananmen Square

Will it refuse to take me there on the 4th of June?

[Androgynous Cupboard]

Re: Tiananmen Square

Yes, in the same way Musk's self-driving taxis will only pick you up if you're a white man.

[Nifty]

Last time I was a car passenger in China - Beijing city and ring roads - it was unbelievably dense and you would not make progress or be able to change lanes without using the 'London cabby nudge' where you essentially play chicken with nerves of steel to push your way into the next queue or exit a junction. So it's quite intriguing to to think how these robo-taxis would manage. Do they only drive in designated areas where human traffic has been largely cleared away?