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Zoox, an adorable-sounding name for an equally adorably designed little capsule on wheels. And while Amazon insists that Zoox is not a car. I’ll probably still call it that since “purpose-built autonomous vehicle designed for riders, not drivers” doesn’t quite roll off the tongue as easily. But what is a Zoox, really? It’s essentially a robotaxi that takes what Waymo and Tesla have been doing to the next level.
A Waymo still looks like a functional car. It has a steering wheel, and someone could take over and drive it manually. Zoox doesn’t have that option. It has no driver’s seat, no steering wheel, or gas pedals. So in a way, Amazon is right. Zoox is missing most of the components that you would expect in an actual car.
Zoox: Not a Taxi, Not a Tram
As of the writing of this article, Zoox is difficult to classify. It’s not really a taxi because it only stops at predetermined pickup points throughout the city. It also only goes to predefined locations. But it doesn’t run on a set schedule and could, if needed, deviate from its route, so it’s not a tram either.
I think at this point, the best way to describe Zoox is as an experiment. A proof of concept. I am sure that in the future, Zoox will become more flexible and expand. Now, it’s more of a novelty. And that’s why everybody wants to try it for themselves. I had to wait close to 45 minutes for my ride to arrive.
I felt surprisingly safe
Throughout my ride, I felt surprisingly safe inside my Zoox, despite the limited visibility from the windows. In a regular taxi, you can look out the windscreen and see what your driver is seeing. In a Zoox, the view out front is blocked by the backward-facing seats. So most of what you see is to the left and right of your vehicle.
However, I think the absence of an empty driver’s seat is actually confidence-inspiring. It makes Zoox feel more like a complete system, rather than a car with something missing. Think of a small gondola you’d find in the mountains.
When I arrived at my destination, Zoox had to maneuver around a parked truck blocking the drop-off lane. It did so effortlessly, and when a woman walked out onto the street without looking, we stopped abruptly. The woman quickly realized her mistake, stepped back, and waved the car on. And while I am sure the car continuing in this very moment was sheer coincidence, it did feel quite eerie to see the car “react” to the woman’s hand gesture.
More comfortable than a regular Taxi?
This question is tough to answer, since every taxi is different. Some drivers and cars are nice, others, not so much. Zoox removes that variable from the equation. Every Zoox is the same. A small capsule with four seats, no communication required apart from selecting your trip on the app and following the automated instructions to put on your seatbelt.
And while being able to select your own music, temperature, etc., is nice, I personally miss the human factor. I enjoy talking to my Uber driver, even though I will likely never see them again. It adds to the experience for me and is something that a fully autonomous vehicle like Zoox can not reproduce.
Zoox: A fun experiment, but little more
All in all, I had fun riding in my Zoox. Especially since in my home country of Germany, autonomous driving is still strictly forbidden. But beyond that, Zoox doesn’t add anything new to the table. It doesn’t deliver significantly more capacity than a regular car, is much less flexible, and is much more accident-prone than a train or tram.
Just maybe, we don’t need to try to eliminate humans in everything we do. And that’s what Zoox does. It’s not a revolutionary concept. It’s a taxi that works, but it does so without us. A cute name will never replace the warm conversations I have had with so many human Uber drivers in Las Vegas. So while Zoox does very well at what it was designed to do, the question I am left asking myself is: Is Zoox really something we need?
