While Waymo operates cars with steering wheels and pedals transformed into autonomous cars, Tesla is developing vehicles natively designed to be driverless. As a reminder, Elon Musk’s company presented its Cybercab prototype during an event in October. However, in this race, Tesla could be beaten by Zook, a Californian company that has been working on its robotaxis for years, and which was bought by Amazon in 2020.
Zook is already testing its autonomous vehicles in the United States. And in November, it announced its progress, as well as its ambition to begin offering rides to the public in the near future. Zook self-driving cars have started driving around a San Francisco neighborhood as part of an employee-only test. It has also expanded the area covered by its autonomous cars in the Las Vegas Strip, and indicates that it could soon allow the general public to use its vehicles.
“We are making significant progress toward welcoming our first public users to Las Vegas in 2025”explained Zoox, in a publication, in November. These journeys will nevertheless be offered to a limited number of users and free of charge initially. “(…) As we prepare to welcome public riders to Las Vegas in the new year, we will do so through an early rider program. These selected users will have the opportunity to ride with Zoox for free and give us their feedback,” the company said on this subject.
Without steering wheel or pedals
As mentioned above, Zoox has developed its own vehicles for the autonomous driving era. And this design does not include a driver’s seat or steering wheel or pedals.
Driving this type of vehicle in the United States is more complicated, from a regulatory point of view. However, according to an article published by Bloomberg in November, the new administration of Donald Trump could relax the rules at the federal level.
- Unlike Waymo-operated cars, Tesla’s Cybercab has no steering wheel or pedals
- Another company, Zoox, is working on this type of vehicle and it could even beat Tesla
- In November, Zoox entered a new phase of its development
- It plans to welcome its first uses in Las Vegas in 2025
- Zoox is a startup that was acquired by Amazon in 2020
