Amazon-owned Zoox has opened its first facility producing fully autonomous robotaxis.
A video (above) released by the California-based company offers a peek inside the factory, which, when it reaches full capacity, could roll out as many as 10,000 autonomous vehicles per year.
Zoox’s robotaxi does away with the steering wheel, pedals, and driver’s seat, giving it a futuristic design. While Zoox has been testing its autonomous technology in retrofitted SUVs in various U.S. cities for a number of years, its fully driverless robotaxi has only been on the roads of San Francisco, Las Vegas, and Foster City, California, in a carefully monitored pilot program since 2023. It’s hoped that the first paying passengers will be hopping aboard the robotaxi in Las Vegas later this year.
The new production plant spans 220,000 feet — equivalent to three-and-a-half football fields — and is located in Hayward, California, while Zoox also has an assembly facility in Fremont.
“An automated transport system moves vehicles from station to station, Zoox explains in a report about its new facility. “QR codes along a green line keep them on track along the routes. Once the robotaxi rolls off the production line, it’s prepared for EOL (end-of-line) testing, [which] involves multiple steps before a robotaxi is considered fit for the road.”
Testing includes checking that all of the vehicle’s sensors are working so that it can navigate roads safely, putting its powertrain through its paces, and even subjecting it to a simulated rainstorm to check for leaks to ensure that sensitive electronics — as well as the riders — stay dry at all times.
Zoox is currently the only company in the U.S. with a fully autonomous, purpose-built robotaxi on public roads. While robotaxi rival Waymo has made big strides in the driverless-vehicle sector, the Alphabet-owned company doesn’t yet widely operate a vehicle that’s entirely custom-designed from the ground up for autonomous driving, instead deploying regular cars — with a steering wheel and pedals — fitted with its autonomous tech. In 2021, Waymo unveiled a design for a custom-built robotaxi in collaboration with Chinese automaker Geely. The Zeekr RT began tests on public roads in San Francisco last year but it has yet to take paying passengers.
