About

About Apollo RT6

Apollo RT6 is Baidu’s purpose-built, battery-electric sixth-generation robotaxi for Apollo Go ride-hailing. The vehicle uses the Apollo Autonomous Driving Foundation Model and a ten-layer safety-redundancy architecture developed across six vehicle generations.

RT6 is used in Apollo Go’s fully driverless commercial operations and is also the vehicle selected for international expansion. The 2025 Lyft agreement covered planned Germany and UK deployments subject to regulatory approval; public-road testing with FREENOW by Lyft began in London in July 2026 with a safety operator. In August 2026, Apollo Go RT6 vehicles began fully driverless rides through Uber in Dubai. These operating modes remain separated rather than describing all markets as driverless commercial service.

Deployments

Operating Use
Live on Uber - 2026-08-20 - Uber / New Horizon Luxury Transport - fully driverless robotaxi service - Apollo Go RT6 robotaxis became commercially available through Uber in select parts of Dubai, operated by New Horizon Luxury Transport.
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Operating Use
Dozens of RT6 vehicles - 2026-07-28 - FREENOW by Lyft - supervised public-road testing - Dozens of Apollo Go RT6 vehicles began supervised public-road testing in Brent, London, with human safety operators.
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Operating Use
Operating in multiple Chinese cities since October 2024 - 2024-10-01 - public roads - Baidu states that RT6 has operated on public roads in multiple Chinese cities since October 2024.
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Supply

Supply / Components

Baidu next-generation robotaxi
LIDAR - sensing_perception - Hesai Technology - Baidu selected Hesai as exclusive long-range lidar supplier for its Yichi 06 robotaxi - source: hesaitech.com
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Timeline

Baidu launches fully driverless Apollo Go rides on Uber in Dubai
2026-08-20 - Deployment - Riders can be matched with an RT6 through UberX or Comfort, or select a dedicated Autonomous option in the Uber app. The initial service area covers select locations in Umm Suqeim and Jumeirah, with New Horizon Luxury Transport operating the fleet. The sixth-generation electric RT6 carries up to three passengers and uses more than 30 sensors for autonomous operation.
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Baidu and FREENOW begin Apollo Go RT6 public-road testing in London
2026-07-28 - Deployment - The testing fleet comprises dozens of purpose-built Apollo Go RT6 vehicles. Human safety operators remain in the vehicles during the current public-road testing phase. Public passenger access is targeted for 2027 and remains subject to regulatory approval.
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Baidu and Lyft sign Apollo Go robotaxi partnership for Europe
2025-08-04 - Partnership - Initial deployments are planned for Germany and the United Kingdom in 2026, pending regulatory approval, with a longer-term goal of scaling to thousands of vehicles across Europe. Baidu will provide Apollo Go’s sixth-generation RT6 vehicles, autonomy technology and technical support, while Lyft will manage the marketplace and operational value chain through its mobility platform. The RT6 is fully electric and uses Apollo’s Autonomous Driving Foundation Model, a 10-layer safety-redundancy architecture and a dedicated sensor suite; the European rollout remains planned rather than completed.
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