Zoox has quadrupled its footprint in San Francisco, providing buggy-style robotaxis to passengers in Chinatown, Pacific Heights, North Beach, along the Embarcadero or to the Marina.
The company will first allow its own employees to take advantage of the widened service area, before offering it to family, friends and customers who have signed up for the Zoox Explorers program. Early adopters could hail Zoox rides to Giants games at Oracle Park this week or fancy cigar bars on the north side, in what executives are touting as a major expansion.
Long considered a runner-up to Waymo in the autonomous vehicle race, Zoox — which is owned by Amazon — opened an East Bay factory last year to build and train its vehicles. The fleet has a distinct look and feel, with boxy cars that can reverse direction without turning. Passengers sit facing each other in an arrangement more redolent of a lounge than a traditional sedan.
This week’s San Francisco rollout coincides with a similar service increase in Las Vegas, where Zoox vehicles have ferried high-rollers and tourists since last summer. The company also plans to begin testing in Austin and Miami. Other Silicon Valley titans are gearing up for their own rapid growth spurts: Uber and Rivian announced a partnership last week to enter what’s become an increasingly crowded market.
Faced with mounting competition, Zoox CEO Aicha Evans celebrated a “year of growth.” In a statement, Evans said her team would implement lessons from its early deployment to “safely scale our robotaxi service across the country and bring our differentiated experience to even more riders.”