Zeekr announced a recall of one of 30 robotaxi models produced by the company, currently being tested by self-driving car company Waymo in the US. In the recall report of the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), this robotaxi model is called RT, with 30 units manufactured in China from December 16, 2024 to January 8, 2025. One of these vehicles arrived in the US on January 27, 2025. However, after inspection, this model did not meet some federal motor vehicle safety standards, so it was immediately recalled for improvement.
According to information from NHTSA, the first recall is related to curtain airbags and passenger airbags. During the test of the forward collision at a speed of 40km/h at a 30-degree angle when the passenger was not wearing a seat belt, the testcome shifted to the right A-pillar and while the airbag supported thecomeback of thecomeback but did not provide enough protection.
To solve this problem, Zeekr said it will install a physical stopping point on the rail of the passenger seat to reduce movement from 300mm to 50mm.
The second recall involved an incident with an overhead weight sensor (OWS) that could disable the airbag control panel. The system can inaccurately determine the weight of the passenger to decide to activate or disable the airbag.
In the third recall, side impact tests showed that the curtain airbags may be stuck in the A-pillar edges during the expansion process and may not fully cover the rear window.
Zeekr said that the remaining 29 Zeekr RTs will be repaired at the factory before being delivered to the US. " Zeekr will become the first Chinese car brand to enter the US market," said Zeekr.
Accordingly, Zeekr will produce RT electric minivans to make robotaxi for Waymo - Google's self-driving car company. The RT model is a custom version of Zeekr Mix - an electric minivan sold in China in 2024.
