Asian Tech Press (Dec 29) -- Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd, known as Geely, announced Wednesday that it will work with Google's self-driving unit Waymo to develop driverless taxis in the United States.

Geely's premium electric vehicle brand Zeekr will provide exclusive vehicles for Waymo One fleet, a driverless fleet for Waymo to provide ride-hailing service, and put them into commercial operation in the United States.

The exclusive vehicles will be built on Zeekr's smart mobility platform SEA-M architecture, also known as Geely's Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA), and designed and developed by China Euro Vehicle Technology AB (CEVT), Zeekr's European center for innovation.

And the model is the latest evolution of the SEA-M architecture for the driverless era. According to the plan, it will be delivered with Waymo's driverless solution Waymo Driver.

Waymo announced the formal commercialization of its driverless service in December 2018, launching Waymo One, the first commercial ride-hailing service for serving passengers without a driver. Currently, Waymo One serves an area of approximately 1 million square miles in four suburbs around Phoenix, California, including Chandler, Mesa, Tempe and Gilbert.

For the partnership, Zeekr CEO An Conghui said, "The fact that Zeekr and Waymo are strategic partners and have joined forces to develop driverless exclusive vehicles for Waymo One fleet fully demonstrates Zeekr's technology development strength and commercial expansion potential."