After over a decade of research, development, and testing, Amazon's Zoox has kicked off its commercial robotaxi service – beginning with the Las Vegas Strip and several surrounding attractions. And for the moment, rides are free.
The company's mobile app will let you operate between stops on and around the strip, including Resorts World Las Vegas, the Area15 entertainment district, and Topgolf.
Offering free rides in a tourist hotspot is a great way to familiarize people with the brand as it eyes more cities to roll out in, as well as get comfortable with the company's unique vehicles that don't even have a driver's seat. That's unlike Waymo and Tesla's autonomous taxi services that currently use regular-looking cars.
Zoox taxis instead only feature carriage seating for four, with doors that automatically slide open so you can enter and exit hands-free, roomy cabins with personalized climate control, and sensors that check everyone's got their seat belts on before the cab will start moving. The vehicles are bidirectional, meaning they can drive "forward" or "backward" without needing to make a U-turn.
The firm has been trialing its electric vehicles in various cities over the last couple of years, and inaugurated an assembly and testing plant in Hayward, California, to produce 10,000 vans annually that Zoox itself will own and operate. The taxis can drive through rain and at night, and max out at 45 mph (72 km/h).
Fun fact: Zoox was co-founded by self-driving tech engineer Jesse Levinson, whose father is the chairman of the board at Apple.
The company intends to offer paid rides in Las Vegas soon, and also open up to San Francisco next. Austin, Texas, and Miami, Florida are on the cards as well.
With that, Zoox will go up against Waymo, which currently covers the most ground with robotaxis in the US, with services in Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Francisco, Atlanta, and Austin (the last two of which are operated in partnership with Uber). It'll also compete with Tesla, which began a limited trial in Austin in June, and Lyft, which plans to begin offering rides in Dallas next year.
Source: Zoox
