Great news: If you’re in San Francisco you can now ride a Zoox Robotaxi. Yes, you heard me right! Zoox, I said.
I’m sure I don’t need to remind you that in 2020, Amazon bought Australia-founded robotaxi company Zoox for $1.2 billion, and shortly after that acquisition, it designed a prototype that looks like a Pokemon on wheels.
On Tuesday, Zooks launched a program called “Zooks Explorers,” which invites users in San Francisco to download the Zooks app, and potentially join the waiting list to take a free ride in one of these — I guess you could call it a “buggy,” since Zooks doesn’t want us to call it a car. Using the app can get you a free ride starting in September, but only if you’re going up or down the Las Vegas Strip.
There’s a laudable reason why the Zoox vehicle looks so beautiful. It is a purpose-built robotaxi with no steering wheel or pedals. It’s not unlike a typical Ferris wheel Gondola – an interior that has room only for two bench seats at opposite ends, where passengers face each other rather than looking forward.
San Francisco’s Mission, SoMA, and Design District neighborhoods will be covered by the Zoox Explorers program — areas where a Zoox could potentially face a competing Waymo, and there’s no telling what will happen then.
According to Zoox, once you’re on the waitlist, the company will “notify you when you can join the preview and request a ride.” Additionally, according to the Zoox site, the rider “cannot take responsibility for driving”, but is provided with controls for temperature and music. You can also initiate an “emergency stop” if you need to exit the robotaxi. I can only assume this last feature is known around the Zoox office as the “puke button.”