Zoox testing waters of autonomous driving ahead of robotaxi launch

If you’ve driven anywhere near the Strip or Allegiant Stadium over the last year or so, it’s likely a specially outfitted Toyota Highlander has crossed your path.

If you’re wondering what those are, they are self-driving vehicles with the autonomous vehicle company Zoox. The Amazon subsidiary, based out of Foster City, California, in the Bay Area, began autonomous driving testing in Las Vegas in 2019.

The test vehicles have a safety driver at the helm at all times and are being used to build a database of real-case scenarios on Southern Nevada roads and to test the vehicle software to ensure safety.

Las Vegas HQ

Zoox, which has its Las Vegas headquarters in the southwest valley, has been testing its autonomous driving technology, as it moves toward offering a driverless robotaxi service set to launch sometime next year. The headquarters features a 190,00-square-foot warehouse to house and maintain the fleets of driverless vehicles, and 16,000 square feet of office space, in which hundreds of employees keep Zoox operations moving along.

Once the company is ready to begin autonomous passenger pickup, it will use their specially built robotaxis that are outfitted with the exact same driverless technology as the Toyotas. That will allow for all the vital information being learned from the fleet of Toyotas to be transferred to the robotaxis.

“It’s a like-for-like swap,” Justin Windus, director of fleet operations for Zoox, said. “What you see on our retro-fitted Highlanders is what we exchange over on our ground-up robotaxis as well.”

The Highlanders being tested will never be used for passenger operations. Only the robotaxis will be used for the planned ride-hailing service, Windus said.

“That’s part of our safety case, we want to make sure that we pull that high bar,” Windus said. “Safety is foundational at Zoox, so there will always be an operator inside these vehicles (Highlanders).”

Why Vegas?

Las Vegas is an ideal area for autonomous vehicles because of cooperation from state and local governments and the variety of roads that Zoox can explore to gather data. The constant road construction is also great for building case scenarios the vehicles run through and store data on.

“Our vehicles have a really great AI stack that is able to handle those situations dynamically,” Windus said. “But also we want to be make sure to complement that with always having a human in the loop in case there is a scenario that comes up where we’re not able to handle that specific situation … where there is a construction zone that is a little bit trickier. So we have that teleguidance team that’s able to give the vehicle a breadcrumb, as we like to call it, to provide that situational awareness to help guide that vehicle if needed.”

Robotaxi details

The four-seater, purpose-built robotaxis feature four-wheel steering, also known as crab steering, sliding doors, on board computer system and sensors combining lidar, radar, thermosensors and cameras. The vehicles are bi-directional and can go up to 75 mph forward or backward.

The carriage seating arrangement features two seats on each side, with the passengers facing each other during a ride.

“That way when you’re in there you can have a conversation and it’s very fluid,” Windus said.

There are drink holders for each rider and wireless charging pads and celestial lighting surrounding the glass panel roof.

The interior has small screens at each seat where riders can view their trip’s route, control music, heating and cooling, opening and closing the doors and a ride starting button. All riders are protected with u-airbags that provide each passenger with 5-star crash ratings.

“It’s all designed for the user experience,” Windus said.

Safety

Zoox regularly meets with area law enforcement and first responders to ensure best practices are being followed, with safety at the forefront, and for all involved to be kept up to date on the latest capabilities of the autonomous fleet.

In 2022, a Zoox vehicle was involved in a minor crash on Harmon Avenue, just east of the Strip. But the Highlander was not in self-driving mode at the time and it was determined that the driver was at fault, the company said days after the crash. Metropolitan Police issued the driver a citation for failure to deduce speed/failing to use due care.

Golden partnership

Last week the Golden Knights announced a partnership with Zoox, naming the company an official partner of the NHL team. The partnership will eventually include transporting fans to and from games on Zoox’s robotaxis, after that service launches in 2025.

“Zoox is an exciting, transformative company and we are especially proud to be their first brand partner,” Knights President and CEO Kerry Bubolz, said in a statement. “The way sports brings fans together relates well to the communal nature of riding in a Zoox. We are excited for the day fans in Las Vegas can hail a Zoox to get to The Fortress.”

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X. Send questions and comments to roadwarrior@reviewjournal.com.