The premium electric brand Zeekr, part of the Geely Group, has launched its SEA-M platform for autonomous electric vehicles. The SEA-M is an evolution of Geely’s Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA) for autonomous vehicles. The first representative of the new SEA-M vehicle type is the Zeekr M-Vision.
Zeekr and Waymo are working together on a purely electric and fully autonomous ride-hailing vehicle. This will be an electric minivan that will be used primarily in the USA.
EV startup Lucid Motors has made Sherry House the new Chief Financial Officer. She comes from Google’s autonomous driving company Waymo. Lucid also appointed new specialists in software and information technology as well as marketing.
Volvo Cars, with its Polestar and Lynk & Co. brands, has entered into a strategic partnership with Waymo. They aim to integrate Waymo’s technologies for autonomous driving into a new electric vehicle platform for ride-hailing services.
The race to deliver autonomous driving at scale is picking up as the technology company Softbank is investing 2.25 billion dollars in GM Cruise, the General Motors subsidiary specialising in self-driving cars.
China’s equivalent to Google, Baidu, is about to begin serial production of electric shuttle buses that will self-drive in selected areas. And it is that autonomy behind that self-drive that may be Baidu’s concern rather than just making EVs themselves.
Jaguar and Google’s Waymo have announced a long-term strategic partnership to launch a 20,000 strong fleet of self-driving taxis based on the I-Pace. Testing is to start this year with the final autonomous electric cars to arrive by 2020.
Google subsidiary Waymo has won approval to open a commercial ride-hailing service with autonomous cars. No human driver will be on board when the fleet starts to pick up passengers in Phoenix, Arizona. It is the first such service in the USA.
Google’s subsidiary for self-driving technology, Waymo, says it has ordered “thousands” of autonomous vans based on FCA’s Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid. They will join the existing Waymo fleet by the end of 2018.
New Google partner? Honda is in talks to partner with Waymo, Alphabet’s self-driving spin-off, apparently. While Fiat already sent a hundred modified Chrysler Pacifica PHEV, it is unclear which vehicles Honda may offer. electrek.co, forbes.com
Growing demand for Li-ion batteries led Mitsui Chemicals and partner Formosa Plastics to raise capacity at their plant in Chinese Ningbo from 1,500 to 5,000 tons/year. The plant shall work at full capacity by the end of 2017. icis.com
Expansion: Finnish manufacturer of e-drives, Visedo has collected 20m euros (US$21m) for its international growth plans. Visedo supplies electric powertrains and components for heavy-duty machinery, CV and the marine industry. greencarcongress.com, transportweekly.com
Hydrogen-powered skateboard: To mark its first appearance at the CES in Las Vegas, Symbio will present a fuel cell skateboard prototype. It shall however point to the firms much larger applications for buses, trucks or boats. businesswire.com