Google Adds World’s Fastest Drifting EV To Its Autonomous Taxi Fleet

Waymo started as Google’s self-driving car project, but it soon grew big enough to become a separate division under Alphabet Inc. (Google’s parent company).

When Google’s self-driving car project started in 2009, it used the Toyota Prius. Once it broke free from Google, it upgraded to a fleet of Chrysler Pacifica Hybrids as part of a partnership with Stellantis. In 2018, it announced a partnership with Jaguar Land Rover. Jaguar was supposed to supply 20,000 I-Pace SUVs, giving Waymo users a more premium option. As a reward, Jag would gain autonomous knowledge from Waymo.

But as discovered on the China Certification Corporation’s (CCC) website, the latest addition to its fleet will come from the East, and it will wear a Geely badge.

Waymo chose Geely’s Zeekr 001 EV as the basis of its next-generation autonomous taxi. Far from your typical humdrum appliance of an EV, the Zeekr recently earned two Guinness World Records, including one for the fastest drift in an electric vehicle and another for the fastest slalom run in an EV.

Geely is one of the best-known Chinese manufacturers because of its relationship with Volvo. Geely purchased Volvo from Ford in late 2009 for just $1.8 billion. It then wrote the Swedish automaker a blank cheque and told them to go out and build the best Volvo possible. The result was the second-generation XC90 on the new SPA platform, which arguably saved the brand from the brink of extinction.

Geely and Volvo founded Lynk & Co, a banner underneath which it can sell cars while keeping the two brands separate. The Geely Zeekr is a rebadged Lynk & Co product, scheduled to go on sale in Europe in 2023.

Source: carbuzz.com