Amazon's Zoox passes key safety tests, seeks permit in California
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There's been several big robo-taxi announcements this week from an industry that hopes to change the way we think about mobility. Baidu unveiled its all-electric Apollo RT6, a production-ready model featuring a detachable steering wheel that should hit Chinese roads in 2023. Over in the U.S., Amazon's (NASDAQ:AMZN) Zoox became the first self-driving tech company to achieve a five-star federal crash rating from the NHTSA and applied for a permit to test-drive in California.
Backdrop: Unlike Alphabet's (GOOG) (GOOGL) Waymo, Zoox has developed its robot-taxi from scratch, rather than modifying existing vehicles with its technology (Cruise's (GM) Origin is trying to do the same). Amazon scooped up the startup for $1.2B in 2020, and shortly thereafter unveiled its VH6, which has room for four passengers and can drive up to 75mph on a highway. There is no steering wheel in the vehicle that's produced at Zoox's "Kato" factory in Fremont, California - just down the road from robo-taxi hopeful and EV leader Tesla (TSLA).
In general, most companies that have jumped in the driverless game without steering wheels and pedals have had to apply for an exemption from Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. Zoox has taken a different route, choosing to self-certify with the NHTSA so that it won't be subject to limited production or its period of manufacturing. It does come with increased responsibility, however, with the company liable for the safety of its vehicles and giving regulators a clearer view into the technology.
Quote: "We really invested the extra time and resources [which] basically lets us control our own destiny," said Jesse Levinson, Zoox co-founder and chief technology officer. "We can compete with, for example, Uber (UBER) and Lyft (LYFT), and make money, and be very cost competitive even in the early days of this technology."