Beijing (PingWest)- Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing rolled out the D1, its first electric vehicle tailored for its ride-haling service.

Didi said it co-developed D1 with China’s biggest EV maker BYD, and the electric vehicle will be dispatched to driver via its leasing partner in Changsha, where BYD is building the vehicle and Hunan province in December before shipping to other cities across China.

Announced during an event in Beijing by Didi’s CEO Cheng Wei, it has a sliding door on its right side to prevent passengers from opening the door and potentially hitting cyclists or pedestrians.

It can also meet different demands from drivers and passengers. For drivers, the model offers customized seat to alleviate drivers’ fatigue. The vehicle can be linked with the muli-media platforms, so drivers can take orders simply by pressing a button on the steering wheel, rather than using mobile phones. And passengers can make adjustment in temperature and seat heating remotely via APP before they get on the vehicle.

The D1 is equipped with many features particularly for safety purposes , including Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB), Lane Departure Warning (LDW) and Pedestrian Collision Warning (PCW)

Didi has partnered with the world’s leading carmakers including BYD, FAW, BAIC, GAW, Toyota, Volkswagen for developing its fleet and fleet operation, as well as others areas such as trading and leasing, maintenance and service, energy supply.

Didi start off a medium private business with an initial investment of CNY800,000 yuan, it rapidly developed into a one of the world’s largest ride hailing platform with a user base of 550 million. Didi account for 90% of the ride hailing market in China after Uber exited the market in 2016.