The world has not seen it yet and it is already here in trials (photo: Walla! system, Udi Etzion)
It is rare that a vehicle that was only revealed for the first time by its manufacturer this month is already moving on Israel's roads, but in the case of the luxury mini van from the Chinese company Zikr, it is no coincidence.
The luxury division of the Chinese Geely, which has announced that it will soon start marketing its cars in Europe, is one of the first customers of Mobilai's new semi-autonomous driving system, which in the future will offer fully autonomous driving.
The kit offered by the Jerusalem Auto Tech company includes not only cameras and digital image analysis as in the past, but also an electronic radar and a laser radar (lidar) that are supposed to back each other up, to enable driving with a high degree of autonomy.
Mobileye components are already installed in Zikr 001, the manufacturer's first model, and now the next model is also undergoing trials to receive a more advanced set, in preparation for the start of serial production.
Zikr 009, 2 meters wide and 184 cm high (photo: manufacturer's website)
Zikr 009 offers not only very generous dimensions for its six passengers, such as a length of 5.21 meters, a width of 2.02 meters, a height of 1.84 meters and a wheelbase of 3.2 meters, but also a pair of electric motors with a total power of 544 hp. The result is acceleration from -0 to 100 km/h in just 4.5 seconds.
A pair of huge batteries with a capacity of 116 or 140 kWh guarantees a range of 702 to 822 km, but this is measured according to the Chinese standard which is very disconnected from real life, and not according to the European standard which is expected to show lower numbers by about a third.
Meanwhile, Volkswagen is close to an agreement with Mobileye to provide it with autonomous driving technology.
Last month, Volkswagen announced the dissolution of its partnership with Ford in the development of driverless car technology, through the company Argo AI, while writing off an investment of about one billion dollars.
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Even in basic white, the Zikr 009 manages to overshadow the private cars around it when driving on one of the busiest highways in Israel (photo: Walla! system, Audi Etzion)
According to a Reuters report, the German manufacturer is expected to purchase the technology from the Israeli company, which already supplies it with semi-autonomous driving technology.
This is an agreement that will allow Volkswagen to launch "Robotaxi", a vehicle with autonomy level 4 or 5, which will allow it to be used as a driverless taxi as early as 2025.
Volkswagen has already presented such a vehicle based on the spectacular ID.BAZ and photos of its trials have been published online, but apparently the Germans were not Satisfied with the performance of its autonomous driving system provided by Argo.
The Zikr 009 should offer semi-autonomous capabilities in the first stage and the possibility of expanding them in the future (photo: manufacturer website)
Volkswagen was originally supposed to provide the vehicle for the robotaxi service that Mobileye announced it would launch in Israel in 2022, but later Mobileye presented the future service vehicles based on the Chinese NIO vehicle.
Since the project is behind schedule, and will not be launched this year, it may return to the original plan if the two companies reach an agreement.
Volkswagen confirmed to Reuters that they will soon announce a new partner in the field of autonomous driving, but refused to provide further details.
Mobileye already supplies the Volkswagen Group with components for the semi-autonomous driving system that is currently installed in the company's models, but the Germans are working simultaneously in the field with competitors of the Israeli company, such as Nvidia.
Volkswagen withdrew its investments in Argo and now Mobileye is the company that appears to be the favorite for the development of the "Robotaxi" (photo: manufacturer's website)
The CEO of Mobilay and Vice President of Intel, Prof. Amnon Shashua, said in a conversation after the company's re-publication on Nasdaq that Mobilay has agreements with five car manufacturers to install its fully autonomous driving kit, which includes, in addition to a camera and an image analysis chip, also an electronic radar (radar) and laser radar (lidar).
Mobilei was issued last month at a disappointing value of 16.7 billion dollars, close to the price at which it was acquired by Intel five years ago, which was 15.3 billion dollars, and contrary to early expectations, it could be issued at a value of 50 billion dollars.
Already on its first day of trading, its value jumped by about 40% to 23 billion dollars.
Since then, the company has registered another increase, and is traded at a value of 24.2 billion dollars.
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