Since 2022, Zoox affirmed that its vehicles respected legislation thanks to an “self-certification” procedure. But in March 2023, the National Agency for American Road Safety (NHTSA) opened an investigation, doubting the validity of the process and the data provided by the company. The case is now classified. In return, Zoox has agreed to withdraw any mention according to which his Robotaxis comply with all of the federal standards in force.
Demos but no sales department yet
« Thanks to this new exemption process, we are delighted to open a new step, put these discussions behind us and move forward », Welcome Zoox in a press release.
The exemption does not mean that the Robotaxis of Zoox can be immediately operated as a paid transport service. For the time being, these are only framed public demonstrations. The trials have already started around the company’s headquarters in Foster City, California, and extended to Las Vegas and San Francisco. In this last city, employees and their relatives were able to embark on board.
At the beginning of the year, Zoox launched its “Zoox Explorer” program in Las Vegas, just to familiarize a first circle of passengers with this technology. The real commercial launch is announced for later, the city of Nevada being expected as the first target market.
Founded eleven years ago and bought by Amazon in 2020 for $ 1.3 billion, Zoox aims to create a fleet of autonomous Robotaxis designed from the start without a conventional driving station. Last June, the company inaugurated a production plant in the Bay of San Francisco, with the idea of going out up to 10,000 vehicles per year once the maximum rate is reached.
The NHTSA decision comes when a new regulatory framework was announced in April by the US transport department. It aims to accelerate exemption procedures for autonomous vehicles designed in the United States, hitherto reserved for imported models.
This system allows manufacturers like Zoox to obtain an authorization from tests or demonstration more quickly, then, in the long term, commercial authorization. Amazon is not alone in this niche: Tesla has already announced that she wanted to produce a future Robotaxi “Cybercab” without steering wheel or pedals. With this relaxation of the rules, the United States therefore opened the road to autonomous vehicles.
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