Self-driving cars are one step closer

 
Amazon’s self-driving unit, Zoox, has successfully tested a robotaxi on a public road, with people in it.

The test took Zoox employees from one company building to another, about a mile apart in California.

This was a part of a no-cost employee shuttle service to connect the company better.

The CEO revealed that the achievement is a big step, and it would not have been done unless all the requirements were appropriate.

“Putting the vehicle on (an) open public road and validating our approach to all of the different requirements, including regulatory, is a big step and we would not have done it unless internally we were already looking at the line of sight for going commercial,” Achai Evans said on a conference call.

Zoox’s robotaxi – built as a fully autonomous vehicle from scratch rather than retrofitting existing cars for self-driving – comes without a steering wheel or pedals and has room for four passengers, with two facing each other.

Amazon bought Zoox for $1.3 billion in 2020.