Waymo and Zeekr teamed up for autonomous ride-hailing service

KUALA LUMPUR: Geely has recently announced that its premium electric brand Zeekr has teamed up with Waymo, which is an autonomous driving tech development company owned by Alphabet Inc. The two companies will develop a new pure electric vehicle for deployment in the Waymo One autonomous ride-hailing fleet in the United States.

Zeekr will design and develop these electric vehicles on a new proprietary and open-source mobility architecture at its Gothenburg facility located in Sweden. Geely informed that the facility has a proven track record in developing class-leading vehicles for the Geely Group. At a later stage, these EVs will be integrated with Waymo's self-driving technology. 

Andy An, CEO, Zeekr Technology: “Zeekr was born on the ideals of equality, diversity, and sustainability. By becoming a strategic partner and vehicle supplier to the Waymo One fleet, we will be able to share our experience, ideals and provide our expertise in collaborating on a fully electric vehicle that fits Waymo’s requirements for this rapidly expanding segment in the global market for sustainable travel.”

Waymo has released a few concept images of the upcoming autonomous vehicle that will hit the US roads ‘in the years to come.’ The concept shows a spacious, low-to-the-ground minivan with sliding doors on each side. The vehicle has a seating capacity of five persons. 

A brief history of the two brands

Geely established the Zeekr in early 2021 as a global technology-mobility brand. The first model of the company i.e. 001 was introduced in April 2021 with deliveries starting in October of the same year. Waymo, on the other hand, is also launched a year ago. It is the first and only fully driverless taxi service available in the US that has driven thousands of people in Phoenix. 

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