Zoox Robotaxis in Operation in San Francisco

Waymo has competition: Amazon subsidiary Zoox is launching its autonomous taxi service in San Francisco. For now, however, the service is only available to a limited user base.

The vehicles will initially only operate in the South of Market, Mission District, and Design District neighborhoods. Passengers can register and join a waiting list, Zoox announced. Rides are free at launch. Regular operation is scheduled to begin in 2026.

Zoox is testing its autonomous vehicles in San Francisco, said Zoox CEO Aicha Evans. The Californian metropolis is the second city where Zoox is active. The autonomous vehicles have been in Las Vegas since September. According to the website, Austin and Miami are to follow.

Zoox developed the vehicle itself

Unlike competitor Waymo, Zoox uses vehicles specifically developed for autonomous taxi services. The Explorer is about 3.60 meters long and offers space for four passengers who sit facing each other. There is no driver's seat or controls for driving.

To navigate traffic, the Explorers are equipped with 18 cameras, 10 radar, and 8 lidar sensors. They can reach speeds of around 120 km/h, and the 133-kilowatt-hour battery is expected to last up to 16 hours. The entire fleet currently consists of 50 vehicles, Zoox told US television channel CNBC.

Market leader Waymo, in contrast, relies on a conventional production vehicle, the electric Jaguar I-Pace, which is equipped with technology for autonomous driving. Waymo also uses a combination of cameras, radar, and lidar.

Tesla uses only cameras

Unlike Tesla, the electric car manufacturer equips its vehicles exclusively with cameras. Tesla currently offers robotaxi services only in Austin and Silicon Valley. Furthermore, a safety driver must currently still be on board.

The market leader in autonomous taxis is Alphabet subsidiary Waymo. Its robotaxis are already operating in the US metropolises of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Austin, and Atlanta and are now completing around 250,000 paid rides per week. In 2026, the robotaxis are also scheduled to come to London.

Various tests with autonomous taxis are underway in Germany. Volkswagen subsidiary Moia has been testing in Hamburg for some time, and the project Kira, founded by Deutsche Bahn and the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (RMV), in Darmstadt and the district of Offenbach.

(wpl)