The race for dominance in autonomous transportation is entering a new phase. Google’s Waymo has already expanded its service to several US cities, and Elon Musk has announced the launch of Tesla’s pilot program in Austin, with the ambition of beating the competition with a cheaper solution. Later this year, Amazon will also enter the scene, with its own platform Zoox, which will bring an entirely new vehicle built exclusively for autonomous driving.
Zoox is designed as a futuristic minibus without a steering wheel, pedals or mirrors. The interior offers face-to-face seating, and the vehicle has identical front and rear sides, allowing it to drive in both directions without turning. Currently limited to a speed of 72 km/h, Zoox can operate for up to 16 hours on a single charge and is designed to remain in service for at least five years, or 100,000 miles.
Commercial service is launching in Las Vegas, after 11 years of development and billions of dollars in investment. Other cities like San Francisco, Austin, Miami, Los Angeles and Atlanta follow. Unlike competitors that adapt existing vehicles, Zoox was developed from the ground up as a robot taxi, which the company hopes to achieve an advantage in user experience and service reliability.
The factory in Hayward, California currently leaves one vehicle per day, with a planned increase in capacity to up to 10,000 vehicles per year. The components come from Germany and Italy, and the assembly combines the work of humans and robots. The company aims to produce up to three vehicles per hour in one shift next year.
Zoox is currently testing driverless vehicles on public roads, but does not yet have a license to charge for rides in California, falling behind Waymo, which already offers the service. However, executives believe that the combination of unique design, long service life and the ability to make numerous trips per day will create a sustainable and profitable next-generation transportation model.