Waymo is finding a way around US restrictions targeting Chinese cars

This week, the President Joe Biden’s outgoing administration has finalized regulations that effectively ban all auto technology linked to China and Russia from American roads — a landmark move with far-reaching implications, to say the least. increased trade cheap Chinese electric cars.

The US Commerce Department defended the rules it originally proposed in SeptemberIt is necessary to protect American cars from foreign enemies and interference. “Imagine if thousands or hundreds of thousands of Chinese-connected cars on American roads could be immediately and simultaneously disabled by someone in Beijing,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said last year. Bans against Chinese and Russian software will begin in 2027, followed by hardware restrictions in 2029.

On paper, this may seem like a disaster Waymo. Alphabet’s self-driving technology developer Zeekr, a brand majority owned by Chinese auto giant Geely, has announced that it will build its next-generation robot taxi in 2021.

In fact, pre-production models are already being tested on the roads of San Francisco and Phoenix, Zeekr officials told reporters earlier this month that a production version of the car, called the Zeekr RT, will begin rolling out later this year.

Despite the new rules, Waymo is confident that this partnership will not be affected and intends to move forward as planned.

“We do not believe the final rule will affect our use of the Zeekr platform,” Waymo spokesman Ethan Teicher told WIRED in an email.

In comments filed with the Commerce Department last year, Waymo argued that its cars should not be subject to the new rules because all the related technology on board is American-owned and installed.

The vehicles Waymo purchased from Geely are “base vehicles” stripped of telematics systems and any other technology that would allow the vehicle to communicate with or send information back to its manufacturer. Waymo’s self-driving technology is only installed by “authorized personnel” after vehicles are delivered to the United States.

The Commerce Department did not respond to WIRED’s questions about Waymo’s Zeekr partnership.

Today, Waymo operates a self-driving ride-hailing service using modification Jaguar I-Pace Electric vehicles in metro Phoenix, Arizona, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Atlanta and Austin are expected to join later this year.

The company too He signed a contract with Hyundai to use modified Ionic 5s on its ride-hailing fleet later this year.

Waymo remains confident new cars – will have more legroom, a higher ceiling and a lower step, which could make the vehicles more accessible to drivers – will remove the ban, it is not yet known whether they will be implemented. New, 100 percent tariffs on Chinese electric carsThe Biden administration concluded last fall.

“We’re watching rates closely, but Waymo’s plans are on track,” Teicher said.