Amazon's Zoox Launches Robotaxi Service In Las Vegas

Amazon's Zoox officially launched its driverless robotaxi service in Las Vegas with free rides from a few select locations. 'Riders will eventually have to pay, but Zoox said it's waiting on regulatory approval to take that step,' notes CNBC. A broader rollout is expected in the coming months. From the report:... unlike Waymo and Tesla, Zoox's electric robotaxi doesn't resemble a car. There's no steering wheel or pedals, and the rectangular shape has led many in the industry to describe it as a toaster on wheels. Zoox co-founder and technology chief Jesse Levinson says, 'We use robotaxi or vehicle or Zoox.' 'You can shoehorn a robotaxi into something that used to be a car. It's just not an ideal solution,' Levinson told CNBC in an interview in Las Vegas. 'We wanted to do that hard work and take the time and invest in that, and then bring something to market that's just much better than a car.'

Zoox was founded in 2014, five years after Google formed the project that became Waymo. Following Las Vegas, the company said it plans to debut an early rider program in San Francisco before the end of the year. The company has been testing a fleet of 50 robotaxis in San Francisco and Las Vegas. Austin and Miami will be Zoox's next locations, the company said. Zoox will soon begin testing robotaxis in those markets, and said it's already driving retrofitted test vehicles in Los Angeles, Atlanta and Seattle. 'We think it's very, very early days, and the future is not written yet,' said Levinson, during a demo ride with CNBC.

Zoox's Las Vegas depot spans 190,000 square feet, which is about the size of three football fields. At the facility, the company houses the dozens of vehicles set to start operating around the city. Smartphone users will be able to order them from Top Golf, Area15, Resorts World Las Vegas, New York-New York Hotel & Casino and Luxor Hotel & Casino. The robotaxi features two rows of seats that face each other and can transport up to four people at a time. The front and rear are identical, with bidirectional wheels that allow it to move forward or backward without turning around. The vehicle can run for 16 hours on a single charge. Floor-to-ceiling windows provide a sightseeing experience for passengers who want a clear view of the endless rows of casinos. But the interior design is meant to enable easy conversation with fellow riders. 'It's not a retrofitted car,' said Zoox CEO Aicha Evans. 'It's built from the ground up around the rider.'

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