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Thursday, January 23, 2025

ZEEKR to ship EVs with NVIDIA Thor, plus US mannequin for Waymo


Chinese language EV Automaker ZEEKR is marking its third consecutive presence on the show flooring of CES. Throughout this yr’s occasion, ZEEKR started teasing no less than three new fashions scheduled to launch in 2025, a few of which is able to function an NVIDIA DRIVE Thor-based sensible driver area controller. Along with these codenamed fashions, ZEEKR can also be planning to launch one other NVIDIA DRIVE Thor-equipped EV known as “RT” within the US for use by robotaxi developer Waymo.

ZEEKR wasted no time touting its newest EV and autonomous driving know-how at CES 2025, which kicked off in Las Vegas earlier this week. As famous above, 2025 marks ZEEKR’s third consecutive participation within the annual tech occasion, which is notable contemplating the corporate was based lower than 4 years in the past.

Throughout final yr’s occasion, ZEEKR showcased its 007, which had simply launched in China days earlier than. It affords a 540-mile vary and a beginning value under $30,000. At CES 2023, ZEEKR made its public debut within the US, showcasing its flagship 001 capturing brake and a purpose-built EV designed for robotaxi community Waymo, which we noticed up shut later that fall. 

The Waymo BEV has change into referred to as the ZEEKR RT, which is talked about alongside a number of thrilling bulletins that the Chinese language automaker teased final month.

ZEEKR Waymo
ZEEKR’s sales space at CES 2025 / Supply: ZEEKR/Weibo

ZEEKR shares plans for brand new fashions, plus Waymo BEVs

ZEEKR kicked off CES 2025 at this time with information of a brand new area controller constructed utilizing NVIDIA’s DRIVE Thor next-generation centralized laptop. NVIDIA unveiled DRIVE Thor within the fall of 2022, saying ZEEKR as its first buyer and preliminary manufacturing of automobiles that includes the know-how deliberate for early 2025.

As such, ZEEKR is hailing itself as the primary OEM to combine NVIDIA’s next-gen system-on-chip (SoC) into a site controller to deal with a variety of sensible driving, autonomous situations, and parking features. Per NVIDIA through the DRIVE Thor debut, the pc “achieves as much as 2,000 teraflops of efficiency, unifies clever features — together with automated and assisted driving, parking, driver and occupant monitoring, digital instrument cluster, in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) and rear-seat leisure — right into a single structure for better effectivity and decrease general system value.”

As NVIDIA’s first DRIVE Thor buyer, ZEEKR mentioned its area controller will quickly be mass-produced and built-in into a brand new giant SUV mannequin to be launched this yr. That SUV might be one in all three new BEVs ZEEKR plans to launch in 2025. In response to ZEEKR CEO Andy An, these automobiles have been internally codenamed “EX,” “DX,” and “CC.”

Along with these passenger EVs within the works, ZEEKR shared that its RT van, primarily based on the MIX and explicitly designed as a robotaxi for Waymo, is present process real-world testing and is anticipated to reach because the world-first mass-produced purpose-built automobile for autonomous rides.

ZEEKR RT deliveries to Waymo are anticipated later this yr for additional testing forward of a future public robotaxi community launch. If that occurs, ZEEKR may change into the primary Chinese language EV model to enter the US market, though it’s a little bit of a loophole.

ZEEKR’s 009 MPV, MIX van, and 001 FR capturing brake are on show at CES at sales space #5640 within the West Corridor of the Las Vegas Conference Heart. Go test them out.

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