Geely's EVA Cab shows RoboSense LiDAR

Robotaxis are finally moving from science-project demos to vehicles designed around the job. That is the real point of Geely’s EVA Cab. At Auto China 2026 in Beijing, Geely showed a car built from scratch for driverless ride-hailing, not a regular passenger EV with sensors bolted on later. And the LiDAR on top matters because it tells you this is also a sensor story — RoboSense is using the EVA Cab to show what its new digital platform looks like in an actual Level 4 vehicle. (timesnewswire.com) ### What is EVA Cab, exactly? EVA Cab is Geely’s new robotaxi prototype, unveiled on April 24, 2026 with Afari Technology and Geely-backed CaoCao Mobility. The pitch is simple — build the whole vehicle around autonomous ride-hailing from d(timesnewswire.com)ilt robotaxi prototype rather than another adaptation of an existing car. (timesnewswire.com) ### Why does “purpose-built” matter so much? Most robotaxis on the road today started life as normal cars. That works, but it leaves a lot of dead weight in the design — driver controls, awkward storage, and packaging choices meant for hum(timesnewswire.com)behind. Basically, Geely is chasing lower operating cost as much as autonomy. (money.usnews.com) ### So where does RoboSense fit in? RoboSense is supplying the flashy hardware detail that makes the prototype stand out. EVA Cab is being shown with RoboSense’s new Phoenix digital LiDAR platform, built on the company’s EOCENE SPAD-SoC architecture. Phoenix is p(money.usnews.com) jump in ambition from the lower-resolution automotive LiDAR most people are used to hearing about. (robosense.ai) ### What does “2,160-beam digital LiDAR” actually mean? It means the sensor is trying to behave less like a sparse rangefinder and more like a 3D camera. RoboSense says Phoenix can generate image-grade point clouds and support long-range perception, with some reports around the EVA Cab citing 600 meters and 25.92 million points per second. The useful men(robosense.ai) sketch; this is aiming for something closer to a detailed depth image. That matters for Level 4 driving because city traffic is full of weird edge cases, not just lane lines and cars. (robosense.ai) ### Is this a concept, or is Geely serious? Serious enough to put dates on it. CaoCao’s CEO Gong Xin said the company plans to deploy thousands of robotaxis globally in 2027, with larger-scale delivery and deployment in 2028. The first markets named were Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, and five mainland Chinese cities. The longer-range goal is 100,000 robotaxis by(robosense.ai)s is not being pitched as a one-off show car. (uk.finance.yahoo.com) ### Why is China the place this is happening? Because China has the supply chain, the domestic LiDAR vendors, and the fleet operators all pushing in the same direction. RoboSense says it led global passenger-car LiDAR sales in 2024 with 519,800 units sold, and Chinese brands accounted for 92% of globa(uk.finance.yahoo.com) why Geely can line up vehicle platform, operator, and sensor supplier at the same show and talk about scaling fast. (robosense.ai) ### What is the catch? The catch is that a launch-stage prototype is not the same thing as safe, profitable autonomy at scale. Geely still has to prove the software stack, regulatory approvals, fleet economics, and maintenance model. A better LiDAR helps, but it does not solve the whole robotaxi problem by itself. What EVA Cab really shows is that the bo(robosense.ai)n we operate thousands cheaply enough to matter?” (money.usnews.com) ### Bottom line The EVA Cab is really two announcements fused together. Geely is showing a robotaxi designed for fleet economics, and RoboSense is showing that its next-gen digital LiDAR is ready to ride on something more concrete than a lab demo. If CaoCao hits (money.usnews.com)uk.finance.yahoo.com)