Hello HR1 by Hello (Hellobike / Ant Group / CATL): status and timeline

Hello HR1

Deploy 50,000+ robotaxis across Chinese cities and overseas by 2027 to establish Hello as a competitive autonomous mobility provider.

DeployStage 4 of 5

Liyang service active; Zhuzhou suspended Dec 2025. Mass production June 2026.

Updated Dec 2025Checked 11 Oct0 updates this week

Milestones

Next · Small-batch deliveries begin

Joint venture formed with Ant Group and CATLJun 2025Complete.
HR1 unveiled with full sensor suiteSep 2025Complete.
Commercial service launches in ZhuzhouAug 2025Complete.
Commercial service launches in LiyangSep 2025Complete.
Zhuzhou service suspended after collision incidentDec 2025Complete.
Small-batch deliveries beginTarget Mar 2026Current milestone.
Mass production launchTarget Jun 2026Not yet reached.
Deployment in ten Chinese cities; overseas expansionTarget 2027Not yet reached.

Most important updates

Upcoming

2026Approval to expand service to Shanghai, Guangzhou, Changzhou, Changsha (next)
Mar 2026Small-batch deliveries begin
Jun 2026Mass production launch
2027Deployment in ten Chinese cities; overseas expansion

Current obstacles

Regulatory approvalProving safety for operation among human drivers and pedestrians in dense urban traffic.
Manufacturing at scaleScaling from pilot to tens of thousands units yearly while staying profitable.

Physics limits

Sensor performance in bad weatherLidar and cameras degrade in rain, fog and snow; must rely more on radar, reducing range.
Long-tail edge casesRare scenarios (construction, accidents, unpredictable crowds) beyond the training distribution.
Latency at high speedProcessing 50+ sensor streams at millisecond latency limits highway operation.

How it works

4 parts

Sensing

Comprehensive 360-degree coverage

Eight lidars, 14 cameras and 24 radars of various types give the HR1 complete awareness of its surroundings, including blind spots and distance measurements.

Processing

Redundant autonomous controllers

Two automotive-grade controllers with over 2,200 TOPS of combined power run the driving logic independently, with automatic switchover if one fails.

Decision-making

End-to-end deep learning

A diffusion model combined with expert knowledge maps sensor inputs directly to steering, acceleration and braking commands, improving speed and consistency.

User interface

Multimodal AI agent

A smart cockpit agent understands voice, text and gesture to answer questions, play media and assist with navigation.

Spec sheet

Spec	Hello HR1
Total sensors	50+^R (reported)
Lidar units	8^R (reported)
High-resolution cameras	14^R (reported)
Combined controller processing power	2,200+ TOPS^R (reported)
Target robotaxis by 2027	50,000+^R (reported)

^R reported by the company

Update log

4 updates

Dec 2025

Major: Zhuzhou temporarily suspends Hello robotaxi service after collision incident involving pedestriansPressRegulatory
Major: Hello targets mass production of HR1 by June 2026 and small-batch deliveries in March 2026PressManufacturing

Sep 2025

Major: Hello unveils HR1, a Level 4 robotaxi with 50+ sensors, targeting mass production June 2026PressHardware
Major: Alibaba invests in Hello robotaxi venture; service launches in LiyangPressCommercial

About Hello (Hellobike / Ant Group / CATL)

The team behind Hello HR1

Hello (Hellobike / Ant Group / CATL)

Robotaxi, HR1, autonomous mobility, Level 4

Hello, formerly Hellobike, is a Chinese mobility platform backed by Alibaba's Ant Group. It pivoted from bike-sharing into autonomous vehicles, launching a Level 4 robotaxi venture with CATL and Ant Group in 2025.

Hellobike survived bike-share consolidation by targeting second and third-tier cities.
June 2025 JV with Ant Group and CATL for L4 autonomy; 3B+ RMB from founders.
HR1 operates in Liyang (Sept 2025); Zhuzhou service suspended after collision.

hellobike.com (opens hellobike.com)Company profile →

Founded: 201610 yrs
Headquarters: China
Status: Private
Valuation: private
Staff: ~5,000Jan 2025
Raised: $424M2 rounds
Last round: Strategic investmentSep 2025
Works in: VehiclesRobotaxis
Coverage: 1 program · 5 updateslatest 1 Dec 2025checked 11 Oct
Lead investors: AlibabaAnt GroupCATL
Partners: CATL (opens catl.com)Ant Group (opens antgroup.com)Dongfeng Nissan Venucia (opens nissan.com)
Investors: Alibaba (opens alibaba.com)
People: Yang Lei (opens en.wikipedia.org)Co-founder

Spec

Hello HR1

Total sensors

50+^R (reported)

Lidar units

8^R (reported)

High-resolution cameras

14^R (reported)

Combined controller processing power

2,200+ TOPS^R (reported)

Target robotaxis by 2027

50,000+^R (reported)