Geely is developing an electric car that will be able to drive on the streets without a driver. The model, which has a futuristic design, will be a car without a steering wheel and without pedals.
Waymo already has a driverless shuttle service in place, although it only covers a very limited area in and around Phoenix, Arizona, and is using upgraded Chrysler Pacifica minivans for this. However, these vans are being used temporarily as test vehicles and the company is already working on the development of a dedicated autonomous electric car. The Google subsidiary has now joined Chinese vehicle manufacturing giant Geely, which created this design under its Zeekr brand. It is a car without a steering wheel and without pedals that circulates on the streets without a driver.
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Geely's car without a steering wheel is a vehicle designed to bring greater internal space, with a highly modern external design and with a "edge" of futurism and, most importantly, it does not have a physical steering wheel and can circulate without a driver, despite of the same being legally required in the final version of the electric car.
The model features four sliding doors, with the front doors sliding forward while the rear doors sliding backwards, and as there is no B-pillar, this makes access seem quite easy.
The floor of the car without a steering wheel is also extremely low, making entry even easier, and once inside, there are two rows of seats that can accommodate up to five passengers.
Authorities demand that the final version of Geely's electric car hits the market with a physical steering wheel
In its press release, Waymo did not clarify whether it will be legally possible to have a car without a physical steering wheel driving with people around, however it stated that, while ensuring a high level of safety with federal standards for cars in the United States , its Waymo One customers will one day experience a car without a steering wheel and pedals, with much more legroom and seats that can tilt. Plus, with screens and chargers within arm's reach and a vehicle cab that's simple and comfortable to set up.
The company also won't say when and if this design will actually make it to the end market, but it does say it will begin introducing its first electric, fully autonomous model to US roads in its Waymo One fleet in the coming years.
The company also makes it clear that the photos posted are illustrative, given that the final design will reflect the standards applicable to the vehicle at the time of production.
Baidu competes with Google and is also developing an autonomous electric car
Baidu, one of the world's biggest search engines, in August launched a driverless electric car that will have a high level of safety when it's running. The car without a steering wheel will have a safety that can be compared to the driving of a human driver.
The model will feature several sensors to operate on a high security basis, in addition to machine learning and artificial intelligence. With these tools, the vehicle will have the ability to develop its driving modes, surpassing that of ordinary people and without the need for human driving.
