Chinese giant Baidu wants to increase its presence in the automotive industry with the launch of Xingtua, a fully electric heavy-duty truck with advanced autonomous characteristics designed by Pininfarina.
Xingtu was launched through Baidu’s DeepWay subsidiary and has a particularly low drag coefficient of 0.35. DeepWay notes that it is equipped with massive 450 kWh batteries and with a full load of 49 tons can go up to 300 kilometers on a single charge. The company adds that the battery can be charged in just one hour, and also supports battery replacement, where a new battery can be installed in just six minutes.
Baidu has equipped the truck with its Highway Intelligence System which includes 11 built-in cameras, one infrared detector, five-millimeter-wave radars and a LiDAR sensor. It is also designed to offer end-to-end autonomous driving.
The exterior design of the truck is immediately eye-catching as it is sleek compared to any other truck currently on the market. A further contribution to the low coefficient of resistance are the covers over the front wheels and the fact that all other wheels are covered by the bodywork. The rear of the trailer also attracts attention thanks to LED lights that extend around the outer edge of the retractable door.
Pininfarina also worked on the interior, which is different from any other truck. For starters, Xingtu uses a two-spoke steering wheel that sits directly in front of a large screen that extends across the width of the dashboard. There are small screens in the door handles, screens on the A-pillars and a screen above the windshield. A bench in the second row is also available.
DeepWay has not confirmed whether Xingtu will come into production, but says it will continue to “focus on research, development and production of smart new heavy trucks and commercialization of L4 autonomous driving technology in the Chinese freight industry in the coming years”.