A Chinese car carries Americans without a driver: Zeekr Robotaxi is already operating in 14 US cities

While in Europe people are still debating whether and when Chinese cars will really break through, something much more interesting has quietly happened in the United States: a Chinese car is already carrying paying passengers completely driver-free. Robotaxi Waymo Ojai runs on Zeekr’s platform and has been operating in two more US cities since the beginning of September.

Fourteen cities and three new additions

Waymo announced on its blog that on September 1, 2026 it opened the first public rides in Denver, San Diego, and Tampa. That brings it to 14 cities, where it offers fully autonomous driving. According to the company, tens of thousands of people registered their interest in each of the new cities.

A key detail is which vehicle is being used there. As noted by CarNewsChina, in Denver and San Diego Waymo deploys exclusively the new Ojai model—and it’s built on Zeekr’s Chinese platform. Denver is also a deliberate choice: high altitude and cold are a tough test for autonomous systems.

Zeekr supplies the cars, Waymo provides the “brain”

The vehicle, internally designated as Zeekr CM1e, is built in Ningbo, China, on the Geely SEA-M architecture. It measures 4,640 mm, with a wheelbase of exactly three meters, and it’s powered by a single rear electric motor rated at 200 kW with 342 Nm of torque. The battery has a gross capacity of 93 kWh and features active liquid cooling.

The body is designed specifically for robotaxi service—there’s no B-pillar, and the doors open against each other, making boarding convenient even with luggage. There are five seats, but since there’s no driver, four seats are practically usable.

The division of labor is clear: Zeekr supplies the vehicles themselves, Waymo provides the autonomous system, computing hardware, and sensor suite; integration is handled by Magna. The Waymo Driver, 6th generation operates with four lidars, six radars, and thirteen external cameras with 17 megapixels. Compared with the previous generation in the Jaguar I-Pace, there are fewer units, but the components are more powerful—where the I-Pace had 29 cameras and five lidars. Heated sensor covers were added as well as ten miniature washer nozzles that keep them clear of snow and salt.

Why Zeekr, when tariffs are over one hundred percent

Here’s the whole point. The vehicles are imported without autonomous software, meaning as incomplete mechanical chassis, and Waymo hardware gets installed in Mesa, Arizona. By the end of August, more than 3,200 units had passed through the Port of Los Angeles; another roughly 2,900 are in the integration phase, and around 300 finished vehicles are already transporting commercial passengers.

The declared chassis value is $38,000 to $39,000, and the customs duty on it reaches 102.5% to 127.5%. Still, it pays off: after paying everything, the car comes out to $78,000 to $86,500, and with the installed Waymo hardware for $103,000 to $110,000. The previous Jaguar I-Pace, meanwhile, historically cost the company about $200,000 per unit.

In other words, the U.S. company would rather pay customs duty above 100% than buy the vehicle elsewhere. That says more about the competitiveness of China’s electric vehicle production than any sales statistics.

Where is this heading?

Waymo has today surpassed half a million fully autonomous rides per week and by the end of 2026 wants to be at one million. The entire fleet has more than 4,000 vehicles, a mix of older Jaguars and new Ojai models. The share of the Chinese chassis in it will keep growing.

In Slovakia and Europe, nothing like this is at risk for now—no regulator here has approved driverless autonomous rides, and approvals are much more cautious. Still, it’s interesting from a different angle: Zeekr is sold in Europe, and the same SEA platform from Geely underpins multiple models you can buy there. The fact that Waymo also builds its fleet on it is quite a strong endorsement for the brand.

Follow the China Planet website, subscribe to our monthly newsletter, and be sure to check out our Facebook page, the China Planet group, and join our Telegram, where we add the best offers and coupons from China every single day.