Zeekr Set To Enter Level 3 Semi-Autonomous Tech Race

Geely-owned Zeekr is poised to enter the Level 3 semi-autonomous driving tech race, where it seeks to rival against both Mercedes-Benz and BMW on this front.

Presently, Mercedes-Benz and BMW stand as the only manufacturers that offer Level 3 semi-autonomous driving tech in their products marketed across Europe. This will soon change following reported plans by the Zeekr brand to develop the same tech. 

Should this pan out accordingly, it will mark a significant shift for the Sweden-rooted, Geely-owned premium brand as the tech will enable it to rival closely against said German marques.

In a recent interview with Automotive News Europe, Zeekr Technology Europe head Giovanni Lanfranchi said that hands- and eyes-off driving abilities up to speeds of 130 KM/H could find their way into the Zeekr X compact crossover and Zeekr 001 shooting brake. Presently, both models already feature Level 2 semi-autonomous driving abilities.

Zeekr Technology Europe, formerly known as CEVT, assisted in the development of ADAS and software for Geely, which also owns Volvo Cars, Polestar and Lotus.

Zeekr's technological head recently hinted that Level 3 driving tech could make their way into the brand's Zeekr X (left) and Zeekr 001 (right) offerings in the near future. Presently, both models only offer Level 2 semi-autonomous driving abilities.

The higher speed ability of Zeekr’s planned Level 3 driving tech sees it hold a slight edge. Presently, both Mercedes-Benz and BMW market products with said tech, but they work up to speeds of just 60 KM/H, and only Mercedes-Benz seeks to raise it up to 90 KM/H soon.

Despite the fact that Level 3 is not permitted in China, Chinese EV makers such as Zeekr’s parent Geely have rapidly rolled out products laced with Level 2 tech at least in its Chinese home market. They are however more cautious when it comes to offering these systems in Europe, which requires access to new mapping.

Nevertheless, the shift towards Level 3 is also a natural one given that Zeekr stood as the first automaker to adopt Mobileye’s advanced Supervision sensors suite. Said hardware grants top-level ADAS, stopping just short of allowing drivers to handover full control.

However, it is worth noting that Zeekr has not decided on whether to shift to Level 3 with Mobileye's Supervision, or using an in-house solution powered by Nvidia's Orin chips, Lanfranchi adds.

Zeekr was the first automaker to adopt Mobileye's advanced Supervision sensors to power its ADAS features. The Geely-owned brand however hasn't decided if it will shift to Level 3 driving using that, or an in-house solution powered using NVidia Orin chips.

Zeekr didn't say whether it would match Mercedes in terms of sensors count, but this isn’t required by European regulations. A key factor to why Mercedes includes extra sensors stems from the fact that the automaker is liable if an accident occurs when the Level 3 system is activated.

It’s also worth pointing out that some automakers like Bentley, Volvo and Audi, have elected to ditch efforts to and deploy Level 3 features in recent years. Their main concern is that the driver must be ready to retake control at any time. KR

Source: Automotive News Europe