Waymo, a company owned by Alphabet, the parent of Google, wants to expand its autonomous car business and start offering robot taxis. For this, it announced a partnership with the Chinese car manufacturer Geely.
Together, they will put a fleet of Zeekr vehicles, specially designed for urban mobility, on the streets. They will be 100% electric and autonomous and, according to the company, will have the mission of prioritizing the comfort, convenience and preferences of passengers on the Waymo One.
The images, for now conceptual, show that the Zekr will really be an autonomous vehicle, as it will not have steering wheels or pedals inside. This, however, is a second step in launching, according to Waymo.
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Autonomous cars will also have an interior design entirely aimed at making life easier for passengers. They’ll have a flat floor, low height, and pillarless B-pillar design for easy entry and exit, plus sliding doors, reclining seats and plenty of room for head height.
The partners did not specify exactly when autonomous taxis will be driving on the streets of the United States and possibly Sweden, the country in which the car is being developed, but it is expected that it will be in the near future.
“We will begin to introduce all of these pilot-priority, fully autonomous electric vehicles on US highways into our Waymo One fleet in the coming years,” said Waymo.
Waymo and Geely also haven’t made it clear, at least for now, whether the concept cars will be offered immediately to the general public or will undergo some sort of pre-test.
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