Waymo unveils fully autonomous car with no steering wheel or pedals
Although there are countless ride-hailing apps, newcomers still have plenty of ways to stand out from Uber and Lyft. The future seems to belong to cars driven only by artificial intelligence, where passengers can get on with their own business.
Waymo has announced a new type of vehicle with no pedals, steering wheel or driver. It will launch in the US at some unspecified point in the future.
For more than a decade, on its path to creating the most experienced driver in the world, the company has worked with several leading global automakers to deploy its fully autonomous technology, helping people and goods get wherever they need to go.
"So we are excited to share our latest collaboration with Geely, a leading global automaker. Waymo is integrating our Waymo Driver into a new, fully electric, mobility-focused Zeekr vehicle designed in Sweden specifically for autonomous rides. We aim to expand access to environmentally safe vehicles, and deploying these fully autonomous electric ride-hailing vehicles in the US is an important step toward electrifying our fleet," the company said.
The design is being developed as part of Waymo One, the company's growing ride-hailing service, which is currently deploying in San Francisco after its debut in Phoenix at the end of 2020.
The whole trick rests on autonomy: every Waymo One vehicle is labeled "fully autonomous," meaning that, in ideal conditions, the cars can take passengers to their destination using self-driving software alone.
If a driver is in the car at all, it is only as an extra safety measure to monitor any failures in vehicle control. Waymo One operates without a driver only in Phoenix (Arizona). In other words, there is usually no one behind the wheel of these cars.
Experienced drivers may laugh at the idea of getting rid of the core hardware that makes a car a car, but it cannot be denied that the Waymo mockups shown in the announcement look very cozy.
The car's design is a modified Zeekr minivan, whose shape falls somewhere between a "luxury car" and "something like an egg." It is the result of collaboration between Waymo and Zeekr's parent company, Chinese automaker Geely.
Much of its unusual design comes down to accessibility: Waymo's concept offers a flat floor with a low step height and doors that slide rather than swing open. And although these cars may lack a driver's seat, Waymo promises passengers will have enough room for their legs and heads, not to mention fold-down seats.
Before you get too excited, know that these futuristic cars won't be speeding down your streets any time soon. Waymo said in its blog that it plans to add these electric, passenger-focused, fully autonomous vehicles to its US fleet "in the coming years."
In the coming years, the company plans to integrate its Waymo Driver into a Zeekr vehicle optimized for Transportation as a Service (TaaS), with a particular focus on comfort, convenience and the preferences of Waymo One passengers.
This passenger-focused car features a level floor for easier entry and exit thanks to a design without a center pillar, a low step height, generous headroom and legroom, and fully adjustable seats.
"Meeting safety standards that match US federal automotive requirements, our Waymo One passengers will one day experience an interior without a steering wheel or pedals, with generous headroom, legroom and fold-down seats, screens and chargers within arm's reach, and a cabin that is simple to configure and comfortable," Waymo said.
It makes perfect sense that if the company has tested artificial intelligence and confirmed that the car can operate without a driver, it doesn't need extra elements at all: steering wheel, pedals, gearbox and much more.
The new purpose-built car is being designed and developed at the Zeekr CEVT (Sino-European Center for Vehicle Technology) research center in Gothenburg, Sweden, where the company has built a reputation for developing best-in-class vehicles for the wider Geely Holding group.
As part of this collaboration, Zeekr, Geely Holding Group's premium electric vehicle brand (Geely), will design and develop the car of the future on the basis of a new proprietary open-source mobility architecture.
“Zeekr was born on ideals of equality, diversity and sustainability. As a strategic partner and vehicle supplier for the Waymo One fleet, we will be able to share our knowledge, ideals and experience in co-developing a fully electric vehicle that meets Waymo's requirements for this rapidly expanding segment of the global market for environmentally safe travel technologies”
Zeekr was founded in early 2021 as a global mobility technology brand with design and engineering resources in Sweden. The first model, the Zeekr 001, was unveiled in April 2021, and deliveries began in October 2021.
