Geely’s premium EV brand Zeekr to develop pure EV with Waymo

Geely Holding Group’s premium electric brand, Zeekr, will collaborate with Waymo on the development of a new pure electric vehicle.

The new purpose-built mobility vehicle is being designed and developed at Zeekr’s R&D facility, China Europe Vehicle Technology Centre (CEVT) in Gothenburg, Sweden. CEVT has been developing class-leading vehicles for the wider Geely Holding Group. 

Under this collaboration, Zeekr will be designing and developing the future vehicle on a new proprietary and open-source mobility architecture. Waymo will take delivery of the vehicles in the United States and will then integrate its fully autonomous Waymo Driver into the vehicle platform.

Waymo LLC is an American autonomous driving technology development company. It is a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc, the parent company of Google. Waymo has partnerships with multiple vehicle manufacturers to integrate Waymo’s technology, including with Daimler AG, Nissan-Renault, Stellantis, Jaguar Land Rover, and Volvo.

The new vehicle will be designed to be rider-centric from the outset, setting a new benchmark for autonomous vehicles. The new Zeekr vehicle has been designed for autonomous use and will come with a fully configurable cabin, both with and without driver controls, that can be tailored towards rider requirements for the Waymo One unmanned ride-hailing fleet in the U.S.A.

Zeekr was founded in early 2021 as a global technology-mobility brand with design and engineering resources in Sweden. The first model from Zeekr, the 001, was introduced in April 2021 with deliveries starting in October 2021.

“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,” says Andy An, CEO, Zeekr Technology.

Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd, commonly known as Geely, is a global automotive company headquartered in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. The company is privately held by Chinese billionaire business magnate Li Shufu. It sells passenger vehicles under the Geely Auto, Lotus, Lynk & Co, Proton, Volvo, and Polestar brands as well as commercial only vehicles under the London EV Company, Ouling Auto and Yuan Cheng Auto (Farizon Auto) brands. The group sold more than 2.4 million cars in 2020.