Amazon’s Zoox has become the first company allowed to charge for rides in a robotaxi that has no steering wheel and no pedals. US regulators granted the exemption on Wednesday. It is a first for the driverless-car industry.
The clearance came from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and was first reported by Reuters. It lets Zoox run a paid service in vehicles built from scratch as robotaxis, rather than modified cars. Its electric, carriage-style pod seats four facing inward and tops out at 75mph.
What the exemption actually does
Federal rules assume a human driver, with a steering wheel, pedals and mirrors. Zoox’s vehicle has none of them. NHTSA waived eight of those rules written for human drivers to let the pod on the road.
Until now, Zoox could carry passengers for free in parts of Las Vegas and San Francisco. The new exemption lets it charge, subject to state and local sign-off, and it told TechCrunch it will start in Las Vegas.
