China-based IT corporation Baidu has begun diversifying its business with the premiere of a production-ready electric car, a crossover SUV named Robo-01. According to AutoHome, t was co-designed with Geely and is set to debut in a trim spec called Lunar Edition, priced starting from 399,800 CNY.
The soft-roader is 4,853 mm long, 1,990 mm wide and 1,611 mm tall with 3 meters of space between the axles. The trunk space varies between 555 and 1,528 liters depending on whether the seats are folded. Exterior highlights include boomerang-shaped headlamps, sleek body lines and a sporty profile emphasized by a contrasting roof. The tailgate sports two spoilers – one fixed and the other one retractable.
The interior is likewise futuristic with a steering yoke and a solid 35.6-inch dash display. There is not a single hardware button in sight, meaning the driver will have to use the touchscreen for all in-car functions, even such basic ones as switching between drive modes.
Another small, 7-inch display can be found at the rear bench, serving as a control panel for the HVAC and multimedia.
The car comes loaded to the brim with semi-autonomous driving features. The list includes two LiDARs, a number of cameras, ultrasonic sensors and radars – 31 sensing devices in total. The development team says it will continue working on making the car more and more autonomous with over-the-air software updates.
Powering the Baidu Robo-01 are two electric motors joining efforts for 544 PS (536 hp / 400 kW). The standard sprint time is quite short at 3.9 seconds. A 100-kWh battery pack on board translates into a manufacturer-rated range of 600 km (373 miles).
The company had originally only planned to release 1,000 Lunar Edition SUVs, but later doubled that number when the first batch was sold out in preorders.
A special division of Baidu called Jidu Auto will handle the assembly and the sales. The actual deliveries will not start until 2023, when the company will have opened a hundred or so dealerships in 46 cities all around China.