ZEEKR launches first door-to-door Level 3 autonomous driving technology
EV automaker ZEEKR held a live event in China today, unveiling several new forms of autonomous driving technology. The company launched a new smart driving solution called G-Pilot, which will enable Level 3 autonomous driving in one of its upcoming EV models before expanding to others.
ZEEKR remains a relatively young but budding EV automaker under the larger Geely umbrella. To date, the EV marque has launched six all-electric models, which will soon be joined by a sleek GT shooting brake version of its flagship 007 sedan, which was unveiled at CES this past January.
Outside of China, ZEEKR has delivered several of its models to new markets in Europe and has plenty more in its pipeline for 2025, according to plans shared during its presence at CES 2025. Those launches include at least three bespoke EV models internally codenamed “EX,” “DX,” and “CC.”
At the time, we learned that ZEEKR had signed on as the first customer of NVIDIA to implement its new DRIVE Thor next-gen system-on-chip (SoC) into a domain controller. This would be seen in the new models teased above, the first of which will be a new large SUV model to be launched this year.
Today, ZEEKR showcased the autonomous driving capabilities enabled by NVIDIA’s technology in the form of a new door-to-door smart driving system it calls “G-Pilot.” We also learned which ZEEKR model will offer the Level 3 autonomous technology to customers first.
ZEEKR joins the autonomous driving scene with G-Pilot
ZEEKR posted several updates to its Weibo account during a live event in China, including several images, videos, and performance specs about its new G-Pilot autonomous driving technology. The automaker shared that G-Pilot will serve customers as a smart driving solution of varying levels to meet the needs of different drivers.
Per a Weibo post, ZEEKR’s “L3 era” will kick off with a new SUV model called the 9X. It will make its official debut at the Shanghai Auto Show next month and then kick off production in China in the second half of 2025.
Aside from Level 3 autonomous driving capabilities, which will only be available in the 9X to start, G-Pilot offers what ZEEKR described as “many industry-first smart driving features,” including a General Automated Evasion System (G-AES). The system was demonstrated in an awesome video on its Weibo page, which you should watch. G-AES enables ZEEKr vehicles to avoid unexpected obstacles at speeds between 80-130 km/h (50-81 mph).
Other features include intelligent drive and full-capacity Vehicle-to-Parking (V2P), all powered by NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor chips capable of up to 1,400 TOPs of computing prowess.
Although ZEEKR’s Level 3 G-Pilot H9 autonomous technology will begin with the 9X only, the automaker shared plans to expand its availability to other models in the future via over-the-air (OTA) updates. We will be at the Shanghai Auto Show this year and will certainly be present at the unveiling of the ZEEKR 9X to learn more about its autonomous capabilities. We will be sure to report back after.
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China just laid out a plan to roll out over 100,000 ultra-fast EV charging stations by 2027 – and they’ll all be open to the public.
The National Development and Reform Commission’s (NDRC) joint notice, issued on Monday, asks local authorities to put together construction plans for highway service areas and prioritize the ones that see 40% or more usage during holiday travel rushes.
The NDRC notes that China’s ultra-fast EV charging infrastructure needs upgrading as more 800V EVs hit the road. Those high-voltage platforms can handle super-fast charging in as little as 10 to 30 minutes, but only if the charging hardware is up to speed.
China had 31.4 million EVs on the road at the end of 2024 – nearly 9% of the country’s total vehicle fleet. But charging access is still catching up. As of May 2025, there were 14.4 million charging points, or roughly 1 for every 2.2 EVs.
To keep the grid running smoothly, China wants new chargers to be smart, with dynamic pricing to incentivize off-peak charging and solar and storage to power the charging stations.
To make the business side work, the government is pushing for 10-year leases for charging station operators, and it’s backing the buildout with local government bonds.
The NDRC emphasized that the DC fast chargers built will be open to the public. This is a big deal because a lot of fast chargers in China aren’t. For example, BYD’s new megawatt chargers aren’t open to third-party vehicles.
As of September 2024, China had expanded its charging infrastructure to 11.4 million EV chargers, but only 3.3 million were public.
Read more: California now has nearly 50% more EV chargers than gas nozzles
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Tesla is starting to experience some consequences for misleading Full Self Driving customers – at least that’s the finding of one arbitration ruling that has Tesla refunding one customer $10,000 plus legal fees for failing to deliver on their promises. Find out more on today’s legally challenging episode of Quick Charge!
An arbitration “court” found that Tesla misled customers with its Full Self Driving product, and has now been forced to refund at least one person’s $10,000 payment (plus legal fees) for the not-quite autonomous driving software. France, too, is piling on claims of deceptive business practices – but there’s some good news for FSD fans! If you’re still willing to pay for it, Tesla will thrown in 0% financing on a brand new Cybertruck.
Check out the relevant links, below, to learn more.
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