Do you remember the collaboration between NIO and L4 autonomous driving giant Waymo last year? As the product of the partnership, the ZEEKR M-Vision concept car built on the scalable and electric architecture (SEA) platform, called Super Sensing Electric Architecture (SSEA), was officially announced yesterday to be ready for mass production in 2024.
The car also made its debut in Los Angeles yesterday and will be developed as a custom vehicle for the Waymo One autonomous driving fleet to compete in Robotaxi commercialization. Let’s take a look at what this cute little guy has to offer – there’s a surprise at the end of the article!
Scalable and Electric Architecture (SEA) Platform, Oriented towards the Future
The Scalable and Electric Architecture (SEA) Platform is the world’s first purely electric architecture developed specifically for autonomous driving and mobility services. Breaking through traditional automotive limitations, it relies on innovative hardware capabilities and sustainable software ecosystems to build a sustainable and scalable mobility service system.
According to NIO, the SEA platform has six main features: an intelligent driving experience, revolutionary ease of entry and exit, ultimate comfort, quietness, low operating cost, and high safety. The 2,700-3,300mm wheelbase extension gives the car strong expandability and supports flexible and variable seat layouts.
The SEA platform has a built-in interface for autonomous driving, which can be compatible with L4 or higher intelligent driving systems and various autonomous driving technologies. The vehicles developed on this platform can balance the needs of passengers and operators: providing personalized services according to specific scenarios, or providing real-time vehicle health status information according to the needs of the operator to help improve operational efficiency.
Versatile Space
As a concept car built on the SEA platform, the ZEEKR M-Vision’s door has a maximum opening width of 1.4m, providing high ease of entry and exit. The threshold height is the lowest in the world for passenger vehicles, and the door opening has been greatly increased. Children, the elderly, or passengers up to 195cm tall can easily get in and out.
Thanks to its short front and rear overhang design, the ZEEKR M-Vision has a 64% wheelbase-to-length ratio, maximizing passenger space utilization, and the flat floor adds to the comfort.
For travel service design, the ZEEKR M-Vision has a 5-year, 500,000-kilometer extended design warranty, and all components have undergone rigorous durability testing, with an average daily driving time of over 16 hours.
The ZEEKR M-Vision safety design meets the five-star safety standards worldwide (China, Europe, and the U.S. NCAP) and complies with the highest safety requirements of the U.S. Highway Safety Insurance Association (IIHS).
Going to the U.S.
On December 29, 2021, ZEEKR announced a strategic partnership with Waymo. In less than a year, ZEEKR developed the customized vehicle for Waymo One, based on the M-Vision concept car.
The model will be equipped with the latest generation of Waymo Driver’s autonomous driving system, with L4 intelligent driving capabilities, and will be put into commercial operation in the United States. The model was jointly designed and developed by ZEEKR’s European Innovation Center (CEVT) and Chinese R&D team and supports two solutions: drive-controlled and no-drive controlled.
Will it be Mass Produced?!
According to Yang Xueliang, Senior Vice President of the Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, M-Vision plans to launch its To C product line, with the product code of CM2E.
If the two-slide doors, no B-pillars, and capsule-like design can be retained, the mass-produced version of the M-Vision will have strong spatial expansion and a highly designed appearance. Compared to ID.Buzz, the M-Vision’s design is even more distinctive and futuristic.
I am looking forward to seeing the mass production of this extremely cool little brother, the 009, in China.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.