Amazon.com‘s AMZN self-driving car unit Zoox on Thursday announced significant advancements to its robotaxi testing in Las Vegas and California, the same day that rival Waymo started offering driverless rides to select members of the LA crowd.
What Happened: While the company’s robotaxis with no steering wheels can drive as fast as 75 mph, it had previously capped top speed at 35 mph. The company has now raised this to 45 mph, while also expanding the area in Las Vegas where these robotaxis can travel to about 5 miles from its Las Vegas headquarters to the south end of the Strip along multiple routes.
“Driving in these larger areas exposes our robotaxis to the busiest conditions they've ever encountered and provides invaluable data and learnings as we continue to scale,” the company said.
The company will drive its robotaxis in light rain and also at night, it said, while adding that these are complex scenarios required to operate its service. Zoox is now eyeing providing its first rides to the public later this year.
Why It Matters: Alphabet Inc‘s autonomous driving unit Waymo started offering driverless rides to select members of the public in Los Angeles on Thursday. The service, called Waymo One, will initially be free in a designated area and transition to paid service soon, the company said.
By the end of the year, Waymo sees itself offering rides across the cities of Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Francisco, and Austin, while the services of its rival Cruise remain suspended across the U.S. following an accident that involved a pedestrian in early October.
Cruise parent General Motors said in January that the company would relaunch Cruise but did not provide a roadmap.
Amazon, meanwhile, bought Zoox for over $1 billion in 2020.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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