Deployment
Apollo RT6 at Beijing, China
Baidu's sixth-generation autonomous robotaxi, a purpose-built battery-electric vehicle (cross between an SUV and a minivan, with a detachable steering wheel) built on Baidu's Apollo Galaxy / Xinghe self-driving platform. Manufactured by Baidu without relying on a third-party automaker, at roughly 204,600 RMB (~$28,600) per vehicle, about half the cost of the prior generation. Powers Apollo Go's fully-driverless commercial ride-hailing service across Chinese cities and international markets.
Apollo RT6 by Baidu · Machine verified · Robotaxis
Recent coverage
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Operator: Baidu (Apollo Go). Apollo Go operates robotaxi service in Beijing; it became the first brand in the capital to offer driverless ride-hailing to the public (Oct 2020), and received Beijing's first license to test fully-driverless vehicles (no safety operator) on public roads in December 2022. Part of Apollo Go's core domestic operations.
Key facts
- Service type
- Driverless commercial robotaxi
- Milestone
- First public driverless ride-hailing in Beijing (2020)
- Regulatory
- Received Beijing's first license to test fully-driverless vehicles (no safety operator) on public roads in December 2022
- Status
- Part of Apollo Go's core domestic operations
Exposure
- Customer segment
- consumer
- Scale tier
- undisclosed
Each exposure value carries its own basis marker. Aggregators report a number; this surface preserves the source class so verification depth travels with the value.
Safety record
No incidents on record for Apollo RT6 at Beijing, China.
Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.
- Trust tier
- Machine verifiedhow tiers work →
- Last updated
- 2026-08-21
- Model
- Apollo RT6
- Company
- Baidu
- Location
- China/Beijing, China
- Operator
- Baidu
- Status
- operational
- Operator type
- maker operated
- Scale at site
- undisclosed
- Site environment
- outdoor
- Location precision
- verified coordinates
- First seen
- 2022-12-29
- ID
aa80e27d-2bdb-4d16-a192-1340bc1bec0d
Timeline
- Dec 2022First recordedApollo RT6 first documented operating at Beijing, China.
- May 2026created
- Aug 2026Current status: operational, reviewedLatest recorded state. New status transitions append here as the deployment-status recorder produces them.
On the deployment map
Apollo RT6 operates in Beijing, China. Explore the full verified map:
Verifications (1)
- Machine verified by DEPLOY content-agent (Sprint 1.5 re-verification)2026-05-30
Evidence: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1329099/000119312526228123/d156481dex991.htm (SEC filing)
- asOf
- 2026-05-30
- basis
- Operating fully-driverless per Baidu Q1 2026 results (22M cumulative public rides; 100% fully-driverless in mainland cities incl. Beijing/Shenzhen). The May 2026 China regulatory cooling-off halts NEW AV permits/expansion following the Wuhan incident, but existing city operations continue.
- status
- active
Sources (8)
- https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1329099/000119312526228123/d156481dex991.htm
- https://ir.baidu.com/news-releases/news-release-details/baidu-announces-third-quarter-2025-results
- https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/baidu-wins-china-capital-citys-first-ever-permit-to-provide-fully-driverless-ride-hailing-service-301774850.html
- https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3213930/robotaxis-beijing-chinas-baidu-wins-approval-offer-driverless-cab-service-yizhuang-economic
- https://cnevpost.com/2023/03/17/baidus-apollo-go-gets-permit-fully-driverless-rides-beijing/
- https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/baidu-becomes-first-in-china-to-offer-driverless-airport-rides-301910249.html
- https://cnevpost.com/2025/05/22/baidu-apollo-go-robotaxi-1000-milestone/
- https://avmarketstrategist.substack.com/p/tesla-q2-2026-3-new-robotaxi-markets · 2026-01-01
Methodology: Verified · 8 sources (4 primary) · last reviewed 2026-08-21
Verification posture
Verified
High confidence
Review state
Stable
Last reviewed 2026-08-21
Maturity + lifecycle
Maturity stage: commercial
Lifecycle: active
Architectural position
Cohort: av
Sources by quality tier
- 4
- unclassified
- Unclassified source
- 3
- primary-company-ir
- Company IR disclosure
- 1
- primary-sec-filing
- SEC filing
The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.
Methodology surface for Apollo RT6 at Beijing, China.Common questions
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Track this deployment.
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Machine-readable surfaces
- Markdown mirror: /deployments/apollo-rt6-beijing.md
- JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
- REST API: /v1/robots/aa80e27d-2bdb-4d16-a192-1340bc1bec0d
- Data documentation: /data
- Query this programmatically: Deploy MCP
Baidu's reveal of the purpose-built Apollo RT6, the vehicle for its Apollo Go robotaxi fleet. A product unveil, not proof of driverless operation.