Zhejiang Geely Holding Group is showcasing its commitment to an electrified future at the Auto Shanghai 2021 show this week by vowing to accelerate the adoption of zero-emissions battery-electric vehicles, hybrid electrified models, and low-carbon industry partnerships across its brand portfolio. The electrification initiative came as its brands unveiled new zero- and low-emission models at the show.
“We are committed to a decarbonized future driven by electric mobility,” said Daniel Donghui Li, CEO of Geely Holding. “Geely will be at the forefront of these efforts across its brands and partnerships. Just as the internal combustion engine revolutionized transport a century ago, Geely is now accelerating efforts to electrify its future products and services, which we are confident will deliver value for customers, value for shareholders, and for wider society. This is the right road for our company to be on.”
Global auto leaders
The group’s highest-profile global brands, Polestar and Volvo Cars, made electrified vehicle news at the show.
Electric performance car brand Polestar showcased an expanded Polestar 2 model range with lower-priced options. Three powertrains are available while a simplified option pack structure ensures customers can more easily customize their cars. The standard range, single-motor configuration features a 64-kWh battery, 165 kW and 330 Nm, 17.1-18.0 kWh/100 km, and a 420-440 km range.
Polestar also marked the end of the line for its initial halo model, the plug-in hybrid Polestar 1. A special version of that car will take it to the end of its production later this year. The limited-edition (maximum of 25) special edition features a custom matte gold exterior paint job with matching calipers, black wheels, and color-matched gold stitching inside.
“We pushed boundaries with this car, not only in terms of engineering but also in its design and execution,” said Thomas Ingenlath, Polestar CEO. “Polestar 1 set the tone for our brand and its genes are evident in Polestar 2—as they will be in our future cars to come.”
The Polestar 1 is distinguished by its light-weight carbon fiber reinforced polymer body and twin rear electric motor powertrain with a combined power output of 619 hp and 738 lb·ft and a purely electric driving WLTP range of 60 mi—still claimed to be the longest of any hybrid car in the world. The “long-distance” GT is also outfitted with high-performance components like Akebono brakes and adjustable Öhlins dampers.
Joining the brand’s portfolio in the future are the Polestar 3 electric performance SUV and Precept. A design study was released in 2020 for the latter, which showcases the brand’s future vision in terms of sustainability, digital technology, and design.
Volvo Cars brought its newest XC40 Recharge to Auto Shanghai, the brand’s first purely electric model. The Swedish brand has committed to only selling pure battery-electric models from 2030. Next up is the launch of its second pure electric model, the C40.
Further into the future is the Polestar 0 project, a challenge to create a truly climate-neutral car by 2030, without relying on offsetting by planting trees. And Geely promised that its Lotus brand will continue the development of its Evija electric hypercar and will soon announce its route to “wider electrification.”
Home-grown brands
The breadth of the rapidly expanding Geely Holding auto universe was on full display in Shanghai.
Just before the show, it unveiled to the media its newest premium electric vehicle brand called Zeekr, and it brought its first model, the Zeekr 001, to the exhibition floor for its first official public event. Developed on Geely’s SEA (sustainable experience architecture), the flagship model offers over 700 km of electric range and a high-performance package “wrapped in technology.”
It is also wrapped in a body nearly identical to that of Lynk & Co’s Zero Concept unveiled in the lead up to the 2020 Beijing Motor Show. That Geely sister brand unveiled its newest plug-in hybrid variant of the Lynk & Co 05 at the show. With that latest release, Lynk & Co now offers a fully electrified range of vehicles, mostly plug-in and mild hybrids.
Last year the Geely Auto brand entered its “Innovative Geely 4.0 era” to develop and launch new models based on advanced modular vehicle architectures. The group’s advanced modular vehicle architectures—BMA, CMA, and SEA—were developed to support electrification and pure electric powertrain options, allowing all products using them to be offered with electrified power options. The Geely Auto mass-market brand showcased the Xingyue L, its flagship SUV based on the corporate CMA platform that will be offered with an electrified powertrain option.
Still another Geely brand offering is Geometry, the mass-market pure-electric vehicle brand that launched its new extended-range Geometry A at the auto show. The Pro version offers 600 km of pure electric range with a new high-energy-density NCM523 lithium battery and 150-kW/310-N·m electric motor. Since launching in 2019, Geometry has unveiled a new model every year, and it plans to export its Geometry C later this year to select global markets.
On the commercial side, the LEVC brand announced it will expand its low-emissions taxis and light commercial vehicle market presence in the UK and wider European Union. And Farizon Auto will further develop zero-emissions and electrified power in the medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicle market.
Autonomy operation
At the Shanghai show, but announced earlier in April, Volvo Cars and DiDi Autonomous Driving, the self-driving technology arm of Didi Chuxing, announced a strategic collaboration on autonomous vehicles for DiDi’s self-driving test fleet. Volvo will provide XC90 cars equipped with backup systems for functions such as steering and braking and collaborate with DiDi Autonomous Driving to integrate the additional software and hardware to make the vehicles fully ready for autonomous drive.
The XC90 cars will be the first to integrate DiDi Gemini, the new self-driving hardware platform to be deployed for ride-hailing in DiDi’s network in the near future. The eventual goal is for the cars to operate without safety drivers in robotaxi services. DiDi continues to expand its autonomous test fleets across China and the U.S. as it scales up its commercial robotaxi operations.
“Combining DiDi’s expanding robotaxi program with our safe cars creates a great match to build trust among consumers for autonomous ride-hailing,” said Håkan Samuelsson, Volvo Cars’ Chief Executive.
“We believe shared, electric, and autonomous vehicle networks will be crucial for future urban transport systems to achieve the highest safety and sustainability standards,” said Bob Zhang, CEO of DiDi Autonomous Driving and CTO of Didi Chuxing. “DiDi Gemini, our new self-driving hardware platform incorporates critical hardware improvements from our test passenger service operations in Shanghai.”
High-tech partnering
Beyond the show’s vehicle electrification and autonomy announcements, what might be just as significant are the partnerships Geely Holding struck in January with technology powerhouses like Tencent, Baidu, and Foxconn.
Geely Auto Group and Tencent announced an expansion of their strategic cooperation focused on “digitalization,” intelligent cockpits, autonomous drive, and low-carbon development. The two companies will work to fully digitalize aspects of an automotive product lifecycle including product development, manufacturing, marketing, vehicle utilization, to after-sales service—using joint technologies. They will also work to develop next-generation intelligent vehicle cockpits with the goals of integrating both ecosystems, opening up new mobile and mobility-service applications, and improving user experience.
“The global automotive industry is facing profound changes and new technologies are restructuring the industrial ecology,” said An Conghui, President of Geely Holding Group, President and CEO of Geely Auto Group. “We hope to fulfill our responsibility to society by jointly promoting sustainable low-carbon development throughout the automotive industry.”
“Today, the digitalization of the mobility sector has reached a new level and the time for Geely to digitally transform all aspects of their automotive product lifecycle is upon us,” added Tang Daosheng, Senior Executive Vice President of Tencent and President of Tencent Cloud and Smart Industry Group. “As Geely’s strategic digital partner, Tencent hopes to help the Geely Auto Group further its digital transformation and promote further sustainable development of the automotive industry.”
In January, Baidu, Inc. announced its plan to establish a company to produce intelligent electric vehicles in a strategic partnership with Geely Holding Group called Jidu Auto. Baidu will provide intelligent driving capabilities to power the passenger vehicles for the new venture, and Geely will contribute its expertise in automobile design and manufacturing. Reuters reports that Judu aims to invest 50 billion yuan (about $7.7 billion) into producing smart cars over the next five years.
“At Baidu, we have long believed in the future of intelligent driving, and have over the past decade invested heavily in AI to build a portfolio of world-class self-driving services,” said Robin Li, Co-founder and CEO of Baidu. “China has become the world’s largest market for EVs, and we are seeing EV consumers demanding next-generation vehicles to be more intelligent. We believe that by combining Baidu’s expertise in smart transportation, connected vehicles, and autonomous driving with Geely’s expertise as a leading automobile and EV manufacturer, the new partnership will pave the way for future passenger vehicles.”
That same month, Geely Holding and Foxconn Technology Group signed an agreement establishing a joint venture company to provide OEM production and consulting services to third parties around whole vehicles, parts, intelligent drive systems, automotive ecosystem platforms, and EV industry value chain. They expect the new joint venture will revolutionize the automotive industry model by helping automakers accelerate their transition to new innovative and efficient manufacturing processes and business models based on CASE (connected, autonomous, shared, and electrified) technologies.
“This alliance between Geely Holding and Foxconn represents a milestone in the cooperation between the automotive industry and ICT (Information and Communication Technology) industry,” said Young-way Liu, Chairman of Foxconn Technology Group.
“This cooperation between Foxconn and Geely is of great significance to both parties,” added Daniel Donghui Li. “The current global automotive industry is undergoing profound changes. We must actively embrace change, build alliances, and synergize global resources to create greater value for our end-users.”
