Amazon’s Zoox has moved closer to putting fully driverless taxis into paid service after winning a first-of-its-kind US approval.
The decision allows the company to commercially deploy its purpose-built robotaxis, which have no steering wheel, pedals or traditional driver controls. Zoox plans to start charging passengers in Las Vegas once it completes the remaining state and local requirements. The approval gives the Amazon-owned company a major opening in the growing US robotaxi market.
NHTSA Clears Zoox to Launch Commercial Driverless Rides in Las Vegas
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration granted Zoox a two-year exemption from parts of eight federal vehicle safety standards. Many of those rules were written for vehicles with human drivers and cover features such as brake controls, rear visibility, windscreen systems and occupant protection.
Under the approval, Zoox can introduce up to 2,500 exempt vehicles into commercial service during each 12-month period until July 31, 2028. The company will keep ownership of the vehicles and cannot sell them to the public.
Zoox built the electric vehicle specifically for autonomous ride-hailing rather than adapting an existing car. It has two rows of seats facing each other, can travel in either direction and reaches a top speed of 75 mph. The company already carries passengers during testing in Las Vegas and San Francisco, but the exemption creates a path for paid rides.
NHTSA said the robotaxi provides an overall safety level equal to a vehicle that meets the waived standards. However, the agency attached tighter oversight conditions. Zoox must report crashes, unusual stops and other operational problems. It must also publish maps showing where the vehicles operate, while remote operators must remain in the United States.
The regulator can change the operating conditions or withdraw the exemption if serious safety problems emerge. That warning comes as driverless vehicles face questions over how they respond to police, emergency teams, school buses, roadworks and flooded roads.
Zoox recently recalled 105 autonomous vehicles for a software update after finding that they might struggle to detect heavy smoke during emergencies. The approval gives the company room to expand but also places its performance under close federal review as US regulators work on broader safety standards for fully autonomous vehicles.
