Chinese automotive giant Geely has introduced its first purpose-built robotaxi prototype, the Eva Cab. Unlike retrofitted vehicles, the model is designed from the ground up around artificial intelligence, integrating a 196-billion-parameter Step 3.5 model with the company’s H9 high-level autonomous driving system. 

The platform delivers up to 1,400 TOPS of computing power, enabling real-time data processing and rapid decision-making. According to Geely, the system reaches inference speeds of 350 TPS and can react up to three times faster than a human driver. 

The company claims the Eva Cab is capable of handling 99% of everyday driving scenarios, including more unpredictable environments like manual toll booths and unmarked rural roads, where it can effectively anticipate viable routes.

World action model brings human-like reasoning to Geely’s robotaxi

Driving the system is Geely’s World Action Model (WAM), which reimagines the conventional perception-to-decision pipeline as a continuous closed-loop architecture. By layering macro-level route planning with micro-level real-time reasoning, the platform enables the vehicle to interpret and respond to dynamic environments with greater nuance. 

The result is behavior that more closely mirrors that of an experienced human driver, particularly in ambiguous situations such as unstructured roads or complex traffic interactions where negotiation and anticipation are critical, CarNewsChina reports.

Geely has packed the prototype with an extensive sensor suite, built around 43 perception components that include LiDAR and high-definition cameras. Together, they create a triple-layered 360-degree field of view designed to eliminate blind spots and maintain constant awareness of the vehicle’s surroundings. The system continuously maps nearby activity, such as detecting pedestrians, vehicles, and unexpected obstacles. In internal testing, Geely says the platform performs reliably in demanding urban scenarios, including complex multi-turn U-turn maneuvers, where it achieved a reported 95% success rate – an indicator the company points to as evidence of increasingly human-like driving behavior.

Geely plans mass production of autonomous taxis by 2027 

Another key layer of the platform is Geely’s AI-powered digital chassis, engineered to respond in as little as 4 milliseconds. This ultra-fast reaction time supports what the company describes as automatic risk avoidance in extreme driving conditions, helping the vehicle maintain stability and control when it matters most. The goal is to shift safety from passive protection to active intervention, reducing the likelihood of loss-of-control scenarios.

Looking ahead, Geely plans to bring the technology out of the prototype phase through a deeply customized version developed in partnership with Caocao Mobility. The company targets mass production in 2027, alongside the start of commercial robotaxi operations. The rollout is expected to mark a gradual transition from testing environments to real-world deployment of fully unmanned driving systems.

Earlier signals pointed to a potential collaboration between Geely’s premium EV brand Zeekr and Waymo, centered on a robotaxi platform built around the Zeekr Mix. However, the trajectory of that effort now appears uncertain. Public updates have been limited, suggesting the partnership has faced technical, operational, or strategic friction. 

However, the commercial performance of the Zeekr Mix in China has been notably weak, with sales effectively stalling this year. All of this raises questions about whether Geely’s newly unveiled in-house robotaxi direction represents a shift away from earlier external collaborations toward tighter vertical integration of its autonomous driving stack.