Zoox, Amazon’s robotaxi subsidiary, has opened a new manufacturing facility in California to build thousands of toaster-shaped self-driving vehicles, the company said on Wednesday.
The opening of the 220,000-square-foot facility in Hayward, Calif., paves the way for Zoox to eventually assemble more than 10,000 of its robotaxis each year, the company said. But it may take some time before Zoox runs the facility at capacity, as it has yet to even launch commercial operations.
Zoox, which has been working on self-driving car technology since 2014, began offering rides in podlike vehicles with no steering wheels or pedals to employees and select invitees in the Bay Area and Las Vegas in 2023.
It also expanded its fleet of test vehicles—Toyota Highlander Hybrids rigged with radar and lidar sensors, and operated by safety drivers—into Austin and Miami last year.
As Zoox gears up for the commercial launch of its robotaxi service, which it has said is slated for later this year, the company has had to contend with a few hiccups. In April, Zoox pulled 258 vehicles off the streets to update its software after its testing vehicles were involved in two accidents with motorcyclists. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a preliminary investigation after the accidents, though it ended the probe after Zoox issued a software update. In May, Zoox conducted two more recalls—first after an incident in which one of its robotaxis collided with a passenger vehicle in Las Vegas, and later another where a person on a scooter ran into one of its unoccupied taxis.
In general, Zoox has more work to do than its competitors in order to get people comfortable with its vehicles’ prelaunch. Amazon’s Zoox is the only self-driving company in the U.S. to pursue a commercial launch with what it calls a “purpose-built” robotaxi—meaning that the vehicles Zoox will use to transport customers don’t have things like steering wheels or pedals. While other companies, including Waymo and Tesla, have showcased designs for their own vehicles without pedals or steering wheels, none of them are currently using such vehicles out on the streets with customers. Tesla, which is expected to launch its robotaxi service in Austin later this month, is using its standard Model Y cars, and Waymo uses modified Jaguar I-Pace vehicles in the four cities where it operates.
Putting vehicles on the road without standard controls like steering wheels and pedals presents its own set of hurdles. For one, emergency responders have to become familiar with vehicles they’ve never seen before. And vehicles without controls are also harder to move if they get stuck, as no one can hop in and manually drive a vehicle away. Zoox’s CEO, Aicha Evans, has said that the robotaxis may need to be towed in these scenarios if remote assistance is unable to help.
At the same time, federal regulators have indicated plans to make it easier for vehicles like Zoox’s robotaxi to get out on the streets. The Department of Transportation said it was planning to streamline the exemption process so that companies could get approvals to operate vehicles without traditional controls more quickly. Zoox has self-certified that its purpose-built robotaxi already meets all federal safety guidelines.
As it opens its new manufacturing facility, Zoox said that its previous assembly facility in Fremont, Calif., will now be dedicated to retrofitting its testing fleet with its autonomous system and software, as well as to sensor pod configuration. Zoox first took over the building in 2023 and started using the facility for robotaxi assembly at the end of last year. There are about 100 employees currently working out of it, and the company says it is hiring for more manufacturing, engineering, logistics, and operations roles as it plans to scale up its manufacturing.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
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