Imagine stepping into a taxi with no steering wheel or pedals – just four inward-facing seats guiding you through city streets. That's the vision behind Zoox's new production facility in Hayward, California, unveiled this week by the Amazon-owned autonomous driving unit.
The Hayward facility will be capable of producing 10,000 purpose-built robotaxis per year once it reaches full scale. Unlike retrofitted vehicles, these electric shuttles are designed from the ground up for ridehailing. Zoox expects the plant to generate hundreds of jobs in manufacturing, software engineering and fleet management.
Zoox is joining an ambitious lineup of competitors, including Alphabet's Waymo and Tesla, which plans to offer rides in Austin with no driver behind the wheel as early as Sunday. To operate without pedals or steering wheels, Zoox will need exemptions from U.S. auto safety regulations – an approval process regulators say they are working to streamline.
For young global citizens and tech enthusiasts, Zoox's milestone points to a shift in urban mobility. Autonomous ridehailing could redefine how people navigate cities, offering on-demand, driverless transport at the tap of an app. Thought leaders see potential benefits for sustainability as electric robotaxis lower emissions compared with traditional taxis.
Challenges remain – from navigating regulatory hurdles to building charging infrastructure – but Zoox's Hayward site cements the race toward a driverless future. As robotaxis move from prototypes to production lines, the road ahead is wide open.
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Amazon-owned Zoox opens robotaxi production site in California
cgtn.com
