Lotus teams with Chinese partner on robotaxis

Backed by Chinese automotive giant Geely, ride-hailing firm CaoCao Mobility has been working with Lotus Robotics on a self-driving pilot programme in the cities of Suzhou and Hangzhou. The autonomous technology has clocked up 13,545km of driving in test areas without human intervention. According to Lotus Robotics – the self-driving technology arm of the British carmaker - the testing indicates that its software is ready for real-world deployment.  

Underpinning the company’s technology offering is ROBO Soul, Lotus Robotics’ self-driving software stack that can provide up to level 4 autonomy. This means the vehicle can autonomously perform tasks such as parking and highway driving under specific circumstances, with human override as an available option. Lotus said aspects of ROBO Soul are currently in operation in the company’s Eletre and Emeya electric vehicles. 

ROBO Soul is supported by ROBO Galaxy, a suite of cloud-based tools that enables businesses to manage and analyse data to increase efficiency and accessibility of their autonomous fleets. The final layer of the technology stack is ROBO Matrix, which uses real-time monitoring to provide drivers with improved remote safety including guidance, control, and parallel driving solutions. According to Lotus Robotics, it also deploys AI to continually learn from its environment and improve the safety and accuracy of its self-driving.

Recent self-driving advances made by Lotus Robotics include ‘Navigate on Autopilot’ (NOA), which enables urban road navigation without the reliance of maps. According to the company, this delivers ‘seamless transitions’ between highways and urban roads, smart lane changes, intersection U-turns, and detouring.

Following the success of the trails, Lotus Robotics says its technology will not be rolled out globally, with the company introducing new features including its high navigation precision software in Europe in Q4 2025. It said the level of autonomy offered in each region will be subject to market-specific regulation.