China has a crucial edge in the robotaxi race, WeRide executive says

• Chinese and US companies are racing to be the first to make the robotaxi dream a reality.
• Chinese firms have a crucial advantage, Jennifer Li, the CFO of China-based robotaxi frim WeRide, told BI.
• She said the country's booming EV industry is giving companies like WeRide access to a sea of cheap tech.

The US and China are racing to make the robotaxi dream a reality — but China may have a key advantage.

Jennifer Li, the CFO of Chinese robotaxi firm WeRide, told Business Insider that while both China and the US have a wealth of autonomous vehicle talent and technical knowledge, China's high-tech EV industry is giving its robotaxi firms a crucial edge.

"We have the luxury of being backed by the electric vehicle supply chain in China. The EV ecosystem in China has given us a tremendous advantage," said Li.

The WeRide executive said self-driving companies starting out in China had plentiful access to electric vehicles that could be easily retrofitted with autonomous driving technology, and could quickly and cheaply build custom autonomous vehicles in a variety of formats.

"We also have the cost advantage. We work closely with all the local carmakers to develop the best autonomous vehicles, and we can quickly bring them onto the market," Li said.

China's EV boom

China has witnessed a dramatic boom in its EV market in recent years, driven in part by enormous government support for the industry.

Local automakers like BYD have grown rapidly, undercutting foreign rivals by offering electric vehicles for prices as low as $10,000 and causing angst among US automakers, many of whom have faced a bumpy transition to electric vehicles.

Many Chinese EVs are increasingly packed full of smart technology, with smartphone makers like Xiaomi and Huawei entering the EV market with affordable models that come with autonomous driving features, advanced voice control, and giant infotainment screens.

China's autonomous vehicle scene has also grown quickly in recent years. Robotaxi firm Pony.AI announced last month that it would expand its robotaxi fleet to 1,000 vehicles this year.

Meanwhile, Baidu's Apollo Go ride-hailing service, which operates robotaxis in multiple Chinese cities, has completed more than 8 million rides since it launched and recently announced its sixth-gen vehicle will have a price tag of under $30,000.

By contrast, the US robotaxi industry has hit a few speedbumps in recent years.

Google-backed Waymo has expanded rapidly and is now serving over 150,000 rides a week across several US cities, but General Motors pulled the plug on rival Cruise last month despite spending $10 billion on the robotaxi company since 2016.

Founded in 2017, WeRide is one of the few Chinese AV companies to expand beyond its home market.

The robotaxi firm operates a range of autonomous vehicles — which include robotaxis, robovans, and robo-road sweepers — across seven countries. WeRide also recently launched two autonomous pilots in Switzerland, and has partnered with Uber to offer its robotaxis on the ride-hailing app in Abu Dhabi.

WeRide launched an initial public offering on the Nasdaq stock exchange last year that valued the company at over $4 billion. Its US debut came as many Chinese tech firms are increasingly entangled in growing geopolitical tensions between the US and China.

Chinese firms caught in the middle

The outgoing Biden administration on Tuesday confirmed new rules effectively banning Chinese vehicle software and hardware from the US market. The measures, which come after the US government enacted punishing tariffs on Chinese EVs last year, also bar Chinese companies from testing robotaxis on US roads.

WeRide has been testing autonomous vehicles in California since 2017. The company received an expanded permit to test its vehicles with passengers without a safety driver in August, but unlike Waymo does not have permission to carry paying members of the general public.

Li told BI that WeRide's presence in the US was focused on R&D and testing, and that the company had no plans to offer public passenger services in the country.

"We are not really actively looking to enter the market directly for now," said Li, adding that WeRide was still assessing the potential impact of the new rules.

A WeRide spokesperson confirmed the company had no plans to launch its products or services in the US, and said WeRide was "closely monitoring" policies in the US to maintain full compliance for its activities in the country.

The turbulence is likely to only increase when Donald Trump takes office for the second time next week, with fears the incoming president's vow to impose tough tariffs on China could set off a global trade war.

Li said WeRide could not comment on measures it has not yet seen — but added the influence of Elon Musk over the new administration was a cause for partial optimism.

The billionaire has close links with China, which is one of Tesla most important markets and the location of its Shanghai gigafactory.

"Elon is playing an important role in the administration, and Elon is actually a very friendly party to the Chinese side," said Li.

"We have all these Tesla fans in China, and so we remain partly optimistic for the future," she added.

Do you work at a robotaxi company or have any insight to share? Reach out to this reporter at tcarter@businessinsider.com or @tcarter.41 on Signal.