Amazon’s self-driving vehicle unit Zoox announced that it has successfully carried out a test of a robotaxi with its employees as passengers on a public road.
The test was conducted between two Zoox buildings located a mile apart at its Foster City, California headquarters. The company has also launched a no-cost employee shuttle service as part of the test, which will aid in the advancement of its technology.
According to Zoox executives, the vehicles used in the test do not have a steering wheel or pedals, but instead have bidirectional driving capabilities and four-wheel steering, allowing them to change direction without reversing.
The company began the test after receiving approval from the California Department of Motor Vehicles.
The permit granted by the California Department of Motor Vehicles only allows Zoox to conduct tests on specific public roads.
Currently, the company is limited to shuttling its employees on a one-mile route between two office buildings at its Foster City, California headquarters, with a maximum speed of 35 miles per hour.
It is unclear how many test vehicles are in operation, but executives have indicated that they have produced “dozens” of vehicles, although the total number is less than 100.
During a conference call with reporters, Chief Executive Aicha Evans noted that testing the robotaxi in public roads “is a big step and we would not have done it unless internally we were already looking at the line of sight for going commercial.”
However, Zoox executives did not provide a timeline for the launch of a commercial robotaxi service or for expanding its tests beyond the current limited route and employee participants.
