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Transportation
Brittany Chang
2020-12-05T13:00:00Z
- DiDi Chuxing has unveiled a custom electric sedan built specifically for ride-shares: the D1.
- The D1 was built in partnership with electric vehicle maker BYD.
- The electric vehicle has features like a smart steering wheel, several touchscreens, and artificial intelligence systems.
- The D1s will be used by drivers across cities in Chinaover the next several months — starting this month in Changsha, China, according to a report by Reuters — with the company's leasing partners.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
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DiDi Chuxing, a Chinese ride-hailing company and global Uber competitor, has unveiled a electric vehicle built specifically for ride-shares: the D1.
Didi partnered with BYD — the "world's largest" electric vehicle maker, according to Didi — to create the custom sedan. Looking forward, the vehicles will be used across cities in China with the company's leasing partners over the next several months, starting this month in Changsha, China, according to a report by Reuters.
Read more: How the coronavirus pandemic will permanently change the transportation industry, according to 23 industry leaders
The company has had a history of working with electric vehicles and catering to the ever-growing segment. DiDi has about one million electric vehicles on its platform, which means the company is the "world's largest shared electric vehicle network," according to DiDi. In turn, about 20% of China's electric vehicle mileage count can be attributed to DiDi's platform.
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DiDi has also set up 20,000 EV charging stations across China, according to the company, and hasteamed up with BP to create 200 charging stations in the country by the end of the year.
Read more: Vancouver has become the last big city to embrace ride-hailing. The head of Lyft in Canada explains why it's such a huge opportunity.
Keep scrolling to see the D1:
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According to DiDi, there are three issues in the ride-hailing segment: safety, efficiency, and experience.
According to the company, vehicles aren't currently equipped with proper safety measures for ride-hailing uses, and don't have larger "safety management and response tools."
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The final of the three points, experiences, refers to uncomfortable spaces for both the driver and the passengers.
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The D1 was built using information from DiDi's over 550 million passengers and 31 million drivers that partake in up to 60 million daily trips.
The company also used 10 million comments, workshops, and 10,000 survey answers from both drivers and passengers to build the final product, president of DiDi Jean Liu said in a statement in the news release announcing the D1.
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"During the process of countless product upgrades, we realized that we were not satisfied with the progress we made on improving user experience," Liu said in a statement. "Therefore, we decided to focus our efforts on the vehicle itself.
The D1 has a series of "ride-hailing safety innovations," such as a Driver Monitoring System, a "smart" steering wheel with alert systems …
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… and artificial intelligence "voice and video monitoring and analysis" programs with facial and item recognition capabilities, according to DiDi.
The D1 also comes with systems to help the drivers, such as Level Two driving assistance, pedestrian warnings, and automatic emergency brakes.
Source: DiDi
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It's also equipped with the DiDi Smart Driver, a system that communicates with the driver by using the dashboard, voice assistance, and the "smart" steering wheel.
To target its specific use, the vehicle has a "ride-hailing service flow from driver verification, pickup and drop-off, to payment and customer service," according to DiDi.
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Drivers also have ergonomic seats for more comfortable trips.
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The vehicles also operate under a fleet management system, as shown below.
D1's power sliding doors allow for quicker and safer passenger entry and exit, according to DiDi, therefore eliminating any swinging doors that could hit bicyclists and other people, according to the Reuters report.
Source: Reuters
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Passengers also have control over different "environmental and infotainment" options via two touchscreens behind the headrest of the driver and front passenger seats.
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"DiDi China has been building a deeper automotive ecosystem for its core mobility service by establishing an extensive alliance with manufacturers, energy providers, and other industry players in the value chain," the company wrote in a statement in the news release.
Source: DiDi
This includes companies like Toyota, Volkswagen, and BYD, to name a few companies, that serve a variety of purposes in the alliance.
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