Chinese search giant Baidu to make electric cars

Chinese search giant Baidu plans to make electric vehicles with help from Geely, the country’s largest private automaker, according to a new report from Reuters. It’s the latest Chinese conglomerate to venture into the flourishing electric vehicle market, following shopping giant Alibaba and ride-hailing behemoth Didi Chuxing.

Making electric vehicles would also represent a broadening of Baidu’s ambition to branch into transportation. Baidu has already spent years working on self-driving technology and is the leading Chinese company in the autonomous vehicle space.

Baidu will likely form a new joint venture with Geely for the EV effort, Reuters reports, and will develop software for the vehicle while Geely focuses on the hardware....

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