Zoox, Amazon's self-driving vehicle business, said it will begin testing its robotaxi with passengers as a shuttle service in Foster City, California.
The fully autonomous vehicles, which lack a steering wheel or pedals, will ferry Zoox employees between buildings at its headquarters in the city.
- The testing comes after Zoox carried out the first successful test with passengers along the mile-long route last week.
- It was the first time a car without human controls transported people on a public road, according to Zoox.
- The
startup will now operate the same shuttle service at its HQ while it
seeks further approval to offer a commercial service to the public.
- The testing, which will help Zoox collect more vehicle and road data, comes after California's DMV approved a testing permit for Zoox.
- Zoox's
vehicles are purposely built for driverless taxi rides. They have a
bidirectional drive system and four-wheel steering, allowing them to
drive in either direction without needing to back up.
- Amazon acquired Zoox for $1.3B in 2020.
