Waymo, Google’s sister company that develops autonomous cars, has found a new partner. The Americans are teaming up with China’s Geely Holding Group to develop a fully autonomous car for Waymo’s fleet in America. The first computer sketches of that car are now being shown.
To be precise, Waymo is teaming up with Zeekr, which in turn is part of the bigger picture at Geely. Zeekr has been marketed as an all-electric premium brand and unveiled its first model this year. That is the Zeekr 001, whose naming certainly does not deserve the originality prize. The creative brains are not yet sure about the name of the autonomous car that Zeekr will build for Waymo. The sketches show a van that, in terms of design, bears little resemblance to Zeekr’s house style. A lidar sensor with the Waymo logo occupies a dominant position on the roof.
There are two large sliding doors on either side, which appear to offer a spacious entry into a minimalistic designed interior. According to Zeekr, this is fully configurable and can be supplied with or without driver controls. In any case, the front and rear passengers seem to have plenty of space. Zeekr does not mention the specifications of the autonomous vehicle, but the van is believed to roll on Geely’s all-electric SEA platform. Zeekr is developing the autonomous vehicle at the China Europe Vehicle Technology Center in Gothenburg. The van is then shipped to America, where Waymo will install its autonomous driving systems and drive with the fruit of this Sino-American collaboration.
In 2020, Waymo announced that it would collaborate with Volvo, but now another partner has been sought within the Geely Holding. Waymo previously worked with Jaguar and Chrysler: in 2016 Waymo started with a fleet of Pacificas. It is not yet known when the new autonomous vehicle from Zeekr and Waymo will be ready for use.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl