Zeekr M-Vision comes with L4 autonomous driving - production to start in 2024

Waymo and Zeekr have been working together on a dedicated driverless vehicle based on the platform used in the Zeekr 001. Dubbed Zeekr M-Vision the concept certain embodies some pretty cool ideas.

The SEA-M platform used in the M-Vision was developed based on the Zeekr 001 but has been heavily modified and will be only used for future autonomous vehicles. The body is completely new and couldn’t be more different. The vehicle is clearly designed with a view to be used in the autonomous driving mode most of the time. The lack of B-pillar means an easy way in and out of the car and lots of extra room.

The platform is flexible enough to allow creation of different versions of the car and different models completely, as long as their wheelbase falls between 2,700 mm and 3,300 mm. That’s a huge span and a lot of possibilities for numerous seating arrangements - from a luxury two-seat configuration all the way to 9-seat commuter shuttle.

It took Zeekr less than a year to develop the M-Vision concept vehicle. The car uses the latest Waymo Driver driverless suite of software and hardware and is capable of L4 autonomous driving. The car is coming to the US and will be put into use at Waymo One ride-hailing service.

Zeekr has been tasked by its parent company, Geely, with development of the electric platform for the Waymo One service. The cooperation between Waymo and Geely started last year and the M-Vision is a concept showcasing the technology and the design at the same time.

The actual vehicles going into Waymo One service may be a bit different, it all depends on their compliance with local regulations. The B-pillar is always a tricky solution but it has been done before. The vehicles will be developed in Sweden at Zeekr’s China Europe Vehicle Technology Center and will go into production in 2024. We’ll see them on the roads later the same year.

Source