Amazon’s Zoox is getting ready to ramp up vehicle production with a newly refreshed robotaxi design as the company seeks to expand its service areas in the US.
Zoox unveiled several tweaks to its purpose-built robotaxi on Wednesday, including changes to the interior color, more ergonomic seats, larger cupholders, a more vivid touchscreen, and two-way audio capabilities designed to improve communication with riders and first responders.
Zoox said it can produce up to 100 of the newly updated robotaxis a week to support its expansion plans for this year, pending regulatory approval.
A spokesperson for Zoox said the regulatory approval refers to a pending petition with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The petition seeks a temporary exemption from some federal safety standards that assume a vehicle has a human driver and traditional driving controls.
The core robotaxi design remains unchanged. Zoox said the updates are designed to make rides feel calmer and more intuitive as it prepares to put more vehicles on the road.
The lighter interior color scheme is meant to reduce “visual distractions” and make it easier for riders to spot items left behind, such as phones or keys, Zoox said.
“These robotaxis will join the fleet across our markets and become available to riders later this year as they come off the production line,” Zoox said.
The company said in its announcement that the updated vehicle is its production-intent robotaxi and will be built at its Hayward, California, factory.
Business Insider previously reported that Zoox’s 220,000-square-foot factory can produce more than 10,000 vehicles a year.
A Zoox spokesperson told Business Insider that the company does not need to build 10,000 robotaxis at the moment.
“We are ramping production in a deliberate, phased manner to safely meet the strong consumer demand and regulatory requirements,” the spokesperson said.
Zoox provides free robotaxi rides to the public in limited parts of Las Vegas and San Francisco as the company continues to collect rider feedback.
The company said that it plans to expand to Austin and Miami later this year.
Read the full article here
