Zoox, the autonomous vehicle company owned by Amazon, has received approval from U.S. regulators to operate its purpose-built electric robotaxis that lack steering wheels, mirrors and conventional vehicle controls on public roads, a necessary step as it prepares to take on Alphabet’s Waymo.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it granted Zoox the first-ever exemption from U.S. rules requiring the use of certain features as part of its expanded Automated Vehicle Exemption Program, which applies to all the company’s vehicles now on the road. As part of the waiver, Zoox must “remove or cover” statements claiming its robotaxi meets Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, NHTSA said. The agency also said it’s closing an investigation of Zoox’s self-certification of its robotaxis.
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The decision is “a win-win for safety and innovation,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement. “America – not China – can and will drive the future of self-driving cars forward.”
The waiver clears the way for Zoox, founded 11 years ago, to launch its robotaxi service later this year, first in Las Vegas, with San Francisco, other Bay Area cities, Austin, Miami, Los Angeles and Atlanta to follow. Like Waymo–and unlike Tesla–the Foster City, California-based company has secured permission to operate paid rides in self-driving vehicles in the Golden State. Also like Waymo, Zoox is using far more robust sensors for its autonomous system, including laser lidar, radar, thermal cameras and microphones (to hear emergency vehicles), in addition to digital cameras.
With its decision, “NHTSA has proposed a way to enable Zoox to move forward with confidence,” the company said in an email. “Through this new exemption process, we are excited to embark on this new path, put these discussions behind us, and move forward, so Zoox can continue to lead the way in autonomous innovation.”
Rather than loading up existing vehicles with sensors and computers like Waymo has, Zoox’s plan from the outset has revolved around creating a robotaxi service with an electric model built from the ground up. Along with the absence of conventional physical controls, it features sliding doors reminiscent of transit trains and is a bidirectional vehicle, with identical front and rear ends. The toaster-shaped robotaxi has a top speed of 75 miles per hour, though it won’t typically exceed 45 mph on urban and suburban runs. It’s also intended to operate for up to 16 hours per charge per day and remain in service for at least five years and 100,000 miles.
“We’re offering a unique experience for riders that we think they’ll prefer,” cofounder and CTO Jesse Levinson told Forbes during a tour of Zoox’s robotaxi factory in Hayward, California, in June. “The ride quality, the carriage-style seating, the roomy interior–we think all of this is going to be what sets us apart.”