Baidu’s Apollo Go wins Hong Kong’s first fully driverless right-hand-drive robotaxi test
量子位 · wechat · 2026-07-29
Baidu’s Apollo Go becomes the first robotaxi to clear full driverless testing in a right-hand-drive market
Baidu’s Apollo Go has received approval in Hong Kong to run fully driverless tests on Airport Island, marking the first public-road no-safety-driver test in the city and the first such test in a right-hand-drive, left-side-traffic system.
At the same time, Baidu said it will begin public-road testing in London with Uber and Lyft’s Freenow, making it the only clearly confirmed Chinese robotaxi company in London’s test ecosystem so far.
Why it matters
- Right-hand-drive markets are technically harder than simply flipping the steering wheel; route logic, merging behavior, bus lanes, roundabouts, and local driving customs all need retraining.
- Hong Kong gives Baidu a nearby proving ground for adapting its stack to right-hand-drive traffic.
- London is presented as a high-value, high-regulation market where Waymo, Wayve, and Baidu are all now competing for access.
- The article argues that success in London could become a template for expansion into other markets such as Singapore, Australia, and India.
Business signal
The piece frames Uber and Freenow’s willingness to test with Apollo Go as a commercial validation of the company’s ability to operate at scale across markets, not just a narrow technical demo.
Related event: Baidu Apollo Go Gets First Right-Hand Drive Fully Driverless Permit(2 posts)→
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