Geely has agreed to use Google autopilots in its electric vehicles

On December 28, 2021, the company Waymo Google (technology development division for) unmanned vehicles announced that it had agreed to cooperate with the Chinese automaker. Geely Holding Group The latter will use the partner's autopilots in their cars.

Waymo plans to install its autonomous driving systems, known as the Waymo Driver, on new Geely Zeekr cars and eventually release them to US markets.

Zeekr is the new Geely brand, which was introduced in March 2021 as a competitor to Tesla. In November 2021, the company launched its first Zeekr model in China. At a time when the model for China is a crossover, the Waymo version of the car will be more like a minivan.

Geely has agreed to use Google autopilots in its electric vehicles

The company said battery-powered cars are being designed and manufactured in Goternburg, Sweden, and will then be shipped to the United States, where the Waymo Driver will be integrated into them. The AV system consists of equipment in the form of lidar, sensors and cameras, as well as software.

Waymo did not report how many cars Zeekr is purchasing and did not report when they could be put into operation. This indicates that it may take some time before they enter the US roads.

In the coming years, we will begin to introduce these fully electric, driver-oriented, fully autonomous cars on US roads as part of our Waymo One fleet, said Waymo.

In particular, Zeekr cars were created in anticipation of the future, in which cars will be completely autonomous and they will lack a steering wheel and pedals. The driver-centric design allows you to focus more on entertainment, since each passenger has access to a tablet-like display and a mobile phone charger.

Zeekr minivans will join Chrysler Pacifica hybrid vans and Jaguar i-Pace SUVs, which Waymo already uses in its Waymo One ridehail applications in Phoenix and San Francisco Bay.^[1]

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