Amazon’s autonomous vehicle company, Zoox, unveiled its self-driving car that brings it one step closer to unleashing a fleet of robotaxis.
The electric, fully driverless vehicle is designed as a ‘carriage-style car that sits four passengers facing each other and is the first in the industry that is capable of operating up to 75 miles per hour.
It is equipped with two battery packs that provide the vehicle with up to 16 continuous hours on a single charge.
Zoox plans to soon launch an app for its future ride-hailing service in major cities across the US including San Francisco and Las Vegas.
Amazon’s autonomous vehicle company, Zoox, unveiled its self-driving car that brings it one step closer to unleashing a fleet of robotaxis
Aicha Evans, Zoox Chief Executive Office, said: ‘Revealing our functioning and driving vehicle is an exciting milestone in our company’s history and marks an important step on our journey towards deploying an autonomous ride-hailing service.’
‘We are transforming the rider experience to provide superior mobility-as-a-service for cities.’
‘And as we see the alarming statistics around carbon emissions and traffic accidents, it’s more important than ever that we build a sustainable, safe solution that allows riders to get from point A to point B.’
The four-wheeled vehicle is just 11 feet long, features four seats inside the carriage-style design and has one of the smallest footprints in the industry, claims Zoox.
It is equipped with two battery packs that provide the vehicle with up to 16 continuous hours on a single charge. Zoox plans to soon launch an app for its future ride-hailing service in major cities across the US including San Francisco and Las Vegas
The design was chosen because it ‘envelops passengers,’ which is equal to five-star crash safety protections for all four seats, according to Zoox, and allows for an airbag system that deploys at every seat.
Jesse Levinson, Zoox CEO and co-founder, said: ‘Safety is the foundation of everything we do. Building a vehicle from the ground-up has given us the opportunity to reimagine passenger safety, shifting from reactive to proactive measures.’
‘These include new safety features such as our airbag design, redundant hardware throughout the vehicle, a unique sensor architecture, and a custom AI stack that detects and mitigates potential risks.
‘Our vehicle has passed key FMVSS crash tests, and we are continuing to look for new, innovative ways to protect our riders and others on the road.’
The four-wheeled vehicle is just 11 feet long, features four seats inside the carriage-style design and has one of the smallest footprints in the industry
Cameras, radar and LIDAR sensors are mounted on all four corners of the vehicle to eliminate ‘typical blind spots’ and provides it with a 270-degree field of view.
The system allows the vehicle to consistently track objects next to and behind it, including pedestrians, bicyclists, and other road users.
Zoox has been developing its robotaxi since 2014 and was acquired by Amazon this past June.
The autonomous car company has come a long way to unveil this vehicle, as its first design was just an SUV strapped with its self-driving technology, and is now a complete, driverless robotaxi.
