Zoox tests its first robotaxi, that’s how it is

A little less than six months after the acquisition by Amazon, Zoox – company founded in 2014 based in Foster City – has unveiled its first self-driving electric vehicle: it is a robotaxi which reinvents conventional means of transportation and is already circulating on the streets of California.

3.63 meters long and equipped with four-wheel steering e bidirectional guidance, the Zoox robotaxi does not need a driver and for this very reason it does not have a steering wheel. As announced in the official press release, the vehicle is capable of reaching a maximum speed of 120 kilometers per hour in either direction – and the battery packs that power it can deliver approx 16 hours of autonomy with a single charge: it can therefore carry out a day’s work without problems.

«Revealing our operation and driving of our vehicle is an exciting milestone in the history of our company and marks an important step in our journey towards implementing a service of ride-hailing autonomous, “he said Aicha Evans – CEO of Zoox – and continues «We are transforming the traveler experience to provide mobility as a premium service in cities. And since we see the alarming statistics on carbon emissions and road accidents, it is more important than ever to build a sustainable and safe solution that allows travelers to get from point A to point B. “

With cameras, LiDAR – like the one found in the new iPhone 12 Pro – and a radar system which provide a 270-degree wide field of view from all four angles, this robotaxi has been designed obviously paying attention to the protection of passengers – only four – that it can accommodate on board: in fact, it includes 100 safety innovations never seen in other cars before, such as a two-way vehicle airbag system and bucket seats.

However, on the subject of safety it is Jesse Levinsons – Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of Zoox – to reveal: «Safety is the foundation of everything we do. Building a vehicle from scratch has given us the opportunity to re-imagine passenger safety, moving from reactive to proactive measures. These include new safety features such as our airbag design, redundant hardware throughout the vehicle, a unique sensor architecture and a custom AI configuration that detects and mitigates potential risks. Our vehicle has passed the main crash tests FMVSS and we continue to seek innovative new ways to protect our passengers and others on the road. ‘

From the streets of Las Vegas to San Francisco and other Bay Area locations, Zoox is already testing its new on-road robotaxis. However, we do not know when and if it will ever arrive in our country but in the meantime, if you want to know it better, you can take a look at the gallery of this article.

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