Amazon's Zoox Launches Robotaxi Service In Las Vegas (cnbc.com) 18
Amazon's Zoox officially launched its driverless robotaxi service in Las Vegas with free rides from a few select locations. "Riders will eventually have to pay, but Zoox said it's waiting on regulatory approval to take that step," notes CNBC. A broader rollout is expected in the coming months. From the report: ... unlike Waymo and Tesla, Zoox's electric robotaxi doesn't resemble a car. There's no steering wheel or pedals, and the rectangular shape has led many in the industry to describe it as a toaster on wheels. Zoox co-founder and technology chief Jesse Levinson says, "We use robotaxi or vehicle or Zoox." "You can shoehorn a robotaxi into something that used to be a car. It's just not an ideal solution," Levinson told CNBC in an interview in Las Vegas. "We wanted to do that hard work and take the time and invest in that, and then bring something to market that's just much better than a car."
Zoox was founded in 2014, five years after Google formed the project that became Waymo. Following Las Vegas, the company said it plans to debut an early rider program in San Francisco before the end of the year. The company has been testing a fleet of 50 robotaxis in San Francisco and Las Vegas. Austin and Miami will be Zoox's next locations, the company said. Zoox will soon begin testing robotaxis in those markets, and said it's already driving retrofitted test vehicles in Los Angeles, Atlanta and Seattle. "We think it's very, very early days, and the future is not written yet," said Levinson, during a demo ride with CNBC.
Zoox's Las Vegas depot spans 190,000 square feet, which is about the size of three football fields. At the facility, the company houses the dozens of vehicles set to start operating around the city. Smartphone users will be able to order them from Top Golf, Area15, Resorts World Las Vegas, New York-New York Hotel & Casino and Luxor Hotel & Casino. The robotaxi features two rows of seats that face each other and can transport up to four people at a time. The front and rear are identical, with bidirectional wheels that allow it to move forward or backward without turning around. The vehicle can run for 16 hours on a single charge. Floor-to-ceiling windows provide a sightseeing experience for passengers who want a clear view of the endless rows of casinos. But the interior design is meant to enable easy conversation with fellow riders. "It's not a retrofitted car," said Zoox CEO Aicha Evans. "It's built from the ground up around the rider."
Zoox was founded in 2014, five years after Google formed the project that became Waymo. Following Las Vegas, the company said it plans to debut an early rider program in San Francisco before the end of the year. The company has been testing a fleet of 50 robotaxis in San Francisco and Las Vegas. Austin and Miami will be Zoox's next locations, the company said. Zoox will soon begin testing robotaxis in those markets, and said it's already driving retrofitted test vehicles in Los Angeles, Atlanta and Seattle. "We think it's very, very early days, and the future is not written yet," said Levinson, during a demo ride with CNBC.
Zoox's Las Vegas depot spans 190,000 square feet, which is about the size of three football fields. At the facility, the company houses the dozens of vehicles set to start operating around the city. Smartphone users will be able to order them from Top Golf, Area15, Resorts World Las Vegas, New York-New York Hotel & Casino and Luxor Hotel & Casino. The robotaxi features two rows of seats that face each other and can transport up to four people at a time. The front and rear are identical, with bidirectional wheels that allow it to move forward or backward without turning around. The vehicle can run for 16 hours on a single charge. Floor-to-ceiling windows provide a sightseeing experience for passengers who want a clear view of the endless rows of casinos. But the interior design is meant to enable easy conversation with fellow riders. "It's not a retrofitted car," said Zoox CEO Aicha Evans. "It's built from the ground up around the rider."
can you get an dui in one / who (under the law) is (Score:1)
can you get an dui in one / who (under the law) is deemed in control?
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can you get an dui in one / who (under the law) is deemed in control?
This hasn't been tested yet legally.
However, if operator guidance is needed (autodrive levels 1, 2, and 3, driver must remain engaged), then you are operating the vehicle and can be charged.
For levels 4 and 5, if you're behind the wheel and could turn off the autodrive features, legal opinion is that you can still be charged (you're effectively in control).
If you're not in the driver's seat and the car is level 4 and 5 (and autodriving), then there's a strong legal argument that you're not operating the veh
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Zoox doesn't have a steering wheel or pedals. You do not have control of it (except for the emergency red stop button).
Right now, Zoox can not even deviate from a hardcoded preprogrammed route, so it's a long ways to be true self-driving either.
Notice how the routes it does in San Francisco or in Vegas are always the same circuits.
Getting a DUI on it wouldn't make any sense.
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the E-stop button can be all that you need to be deemed in control.
In some states just having the keys on you with you sleeping in the back = dui.
having an phone app on you that can set destinations can = in control and in control = DUI.
So? (Score:2)
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Zoox has always been a stupid fucking idea.
They could make sense in a lot of areas, basically anywhere densely populated which allows cars. My favorite way to get around Vegas has been by minivan taxi, which is really the traditional conveyance most similar to what Zoox is offering. I have had some really excellently spirited rides in yellow Toyota Previas. I wonder if they were the supercharged models...
Anyhoo billions should be embarrassing, but vehicles like this are an extremely probable future of inner city transit, because we so frequently ref
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Zoox has always been a stupid fucking idea. They blew BILLIONS of investment before Amazon bailed their failing accomplished nothing asses out. They have virtually nothing to show for it.
They got more self-driving cabs than Tesla, and Tesla is getting hundreds of billions in valuation from their "Robotaxi".
In either case, if they can scale this there's loads of money waiting. I think they're currently Waymo's only real competitor.
Can't compete with Tesla (Score:2)
Nobody can compete with Tesla on this. Once Tesla owners can simply add their vehicle to the robotaxi network, how will anyone be able to compete with that? Perhaps Benz or GM can in about 5 to 10 years .. assuming they can not go bankrupt in between.
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Waymo is currently at 250,000 autonomous rides per week, in six cities, and I mean autonomous in the strict sense of "there are no Waymo employees in the car". They seem to be competing pretty well.
As for how other companies will compete against Tesla in the future when Tesla finally makes good on their ambitious promises.... we'll find out, if and when Tesla finally makes good on their ambitious promises. You shouldn't count those chickens until they've hatched.
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Tell ya what: you put down the KoolAid, and I'll try to stop laughing out loud. How many years has Elon been stringing people along with this vision? About as long as he's been upselling people on the FSD package with the promise that it'll provide Level 5 autonomy via a SW update. Soon. Any time now. For almost a decade. There are Model 3 cars o
Re: Can't compete with Tesla (Score:2)
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Robotaxis are NOT going to be privately-owned vehicles. They will be owned in huge fleets for at least two reasons: 1. Destruction of a robotaxi is not devastating to the owner of a fleet. 2. You don't have to come up with some elaborate system to "equitably distribute" the rides so all the cars get equal shares of income.
I have no idea why Musk even suggests this will work. It is not going to happen.
Need this at the airport... (Score:2)
Someone (either these guys or one of the other robotaxi companies) needs to launch robotaxis in Vegas that can go to and from the Vegas airport.
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Rides to and from airports are regulated, and there's a lot of money involved. That means the existing players are lobbying hard to keep the new competition out. If this is like everything else in history, they'll succeed only in delaying it. That delay will make the finances that much harder for new players, which may result in some failing, but eventually they'll get in. Considering that Tesla and Waymo have significant resources, they'll probably be the ones to break in to airport rides first. (Tesl
airport needs the monorail! (Score:2)
airport needs the monorail!
Vegas tourism (Score:2)
This might not be such a good idea as Vegas was begging Canada to come back. Their tourism isnâ(TM)t what it used to be and talk of 51st state has turned off Canadian tourism.
How is it being allowed on the streets? (Score:2)
The design of the Zook is extremely alarming. If both ends of the vehicle look identical, this will create danger to human drivers who might get confused thinking the vehicle is coming towards them. I have myself been in a situation where a truck driver in adjacent lane got momentarily confused by a broken-down truck that was being towed away ahead in his lane. The problem was the truck was being towed from its rear, so it's front was facing us (my car and me adjacent truck). Next moment the adjacent truck