Zoox, the Amazon-owned autonomous driving company, has just rolled out its robotaxi testing in San Francisco. The company says it’s an important milestone in its quest to expand to public ridership next year.
Founded in 2014 and acquired by Amazon in 2020, Zoox is part of a growing pack of self-driving car companies led by General Motors’ Cruise and Google’s Waymo.
But Zoox stands out from its more established competitors in one big way: co-founder Jesse Levinson says it’s “the only company driving a purpose-built robotaxi on public roads without traditional manual controls.”
Yes, these cars not only have no driver, but they also have no brakes or steering wheel.
Everything from acceleration to braking and steering is controlled by artificial intelligence and sensor-driven autonomous software, which, the company says, ensures safe navigation on complex city streets.
A Different Kind of Robotaxi
Zoox robotaxis differ from other robotaxis not only in function, but also in form. These pillbox-shaped bidirectional pods resemble a low-floor, compact minibus. They can seat up to four passengers facing each other.
An Important Milestone
In the current testing phase, Zoox vehicles will be geofenced to the SoMa neighborhood and won’t be available to the public, at least until 2025.
Zoox has actually been testing its fleet on public roads since 2017, when it began using retrofitted hybrid Toyota Highlanders with safety drivers. But it rolled out its purpose-built pods last year, becoming the first company to operate a purpose-built robotaxi with passengers on open public roads.
Competitors Cruise and Waymo use retrofitted vehicles for their autonomous services.
Zoox is currently testing its mixed fleet in six cities: Austin, Las Vegas, Miami, San Francisco, Seattle, and near its Foster City, California headquarters. Each test city allows Zoox’s systems to learn about and adjust to different sets of regulations, driving cultures, terrains, and climates.
Is Zoox Safe?
Zoox plans on expanding its service to public riders in Las Vegas in 2025. Questions remain about whether the company is ready for showtime.
In 2022, Zoox self-certified its compliance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. The next year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation into whether the company’s internal testing procedures met or aligned with federal standards given its robotaxi’s lack of traditional controls.
That investigation has yet to yield a final safety determination, raising the question of whether Zoox may have to hit the brakes on its public rollout plans.
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