Zoox Wins First US Approval for Driverless Paid Robotaxis — No Steering Wheel or Pedals

Looking at the headline, one might think, “Wait, what? Waymo has been providing paid robotaxi rides in the US for years now.” Yes, indeed, but those vehicles have included human controls, basically being consumer cars modified to drive themselves. This is a blanket approval for the USA for vehicles that don’t include human controls (steering wheels and pedals, for example). But it is also limited. Zoox can only deploy so many robotaxis for now, and it does still have to get local/state approval where it operates. This coverage centres on driverless paid robotaxis.

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“Zoox said that the National Highway Traffic Safety ‌Administration’s decision gives the company federal approval to begin charging for rides, and that it will soon begin charging for service, first in Las Vegas, with additional markets to follow as it completes various state requirements,” Reuters reports. “NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison told Reuters that Zoox had received clearance to commercially deploy up to 2,500 ​vehicles in each of the next two years.”

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Zoox is not allowed to sell these vehicles, though, and it has certain extra reporting requirements — “such as crashes or stopping inappropriately on roads.”

However, that could change if all is going well. “We have the ability to pull the exemption if we see major safety issues,” Morrison noted.

So, Zoox may not be on the top of people’s minds when they think of US robotaxis, but perhaps it will be soon. Zoox has been growing fast, and perhaps it will find a way to leapfrog its way to the top. Maybe. One would think Waymo won’t be far behind with such approval. And perhaps even Tesla? We’ll see….