The partnership has led to the creation of a self-driving taxi service that is set to be deployed all across the United States.
China’s premium electric vehicle brand, Zeeker, announced its partnership with Waymo to bring the world’s first autonomous taxi service. Waymo is a part of Alphabet Inc. and works on self-driving units and solutions. This partnership is going to set new precedence on how people use taxis. This new self-driving taxi system is deployed all over the United States.
China’s Geely holding company is taking the reins on this project. It has announced that the vehicles will be manufactured in their facility in Sweden and integrated with the self-driving technology of Waymo. They confirmed this to Reuters on Tuesday.
Waymo has already shown concept images of the new vehicle. The design shows a low riding minivan with the capacity to seat five people. The van will also have sliding doors on each side, which will serve as the entryways. In addition, Waymo has announced that these vehicles will be available for commercial use in the U.S. in the years to come.
Waymo aims for better services
Waymo already has a driverless taxi service in the United States. This service has been used by thousands of people since its launch last year in Pheonix. The general population has widely accepted it.
This new partnership with Zeeker will help Waymo build on its current service and expand its offerings in an industry that is getting competitive. This not only helps Waymo, but since this project is a collaboration with Zeeker, it will allow Geely to enter into the U.S. market and potentially opt for new business ventures.
Future of self-driving services
The world is moving towards automation, which is also the case with taxi services. Since its previous project gained success, it is only natural that Waymo works towards improving its services. However, it will only be apparent when the new vehicles are rolled out into the U.S. market.
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