Amazon's Zoox brings driverless car testing to Phoenix
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Amazon's driverless cars are coming to Phoenix, the company announced on Monday.
Why it matters: Alphabet-owned Waymo has taken over the Valley with its popular robotaxis and competitors are looking to get in on the autonomous vehicle action.
State of play: Zoox, Amazon's AV subsidiary, is deploying SUVs with safety drivers behind the wheel to manually map the Valley this spring ahead of a fully autonomous launch.
- The company will also open a "fusion center" in Scottsdale, where employees will provide teleguidance, mission control and rider support, according to a news release.
The intrigue: Zoox has developed a new vehicle designed for fully autonomous ride-hailing, which will arrive in the Valley after testing.
- It has carriage-style seating and no steering wheel or pedals — a decidedly different approach than Waymo, which operates a fleet of Jaguar I-Pace electric vehicles.
Zoom out: Phoenix will be the ninth city where Zoox is testing and the company expects to expand into Dallas imminently as well.
- Zoox began free public rides in Las Vegas and San Francisco last year.
Zoom in: The company said that coming to Phoenix will allow it to test its sensors and batteries against extreme heat and dust on high-speed roads.