A construction zone. A car crash. A double parked truck. A motorcycle cop with its red-white-and blues deployed.
My one-hour trip along the Las Vegas Strip in a custom-built Zoox robotaxi during CES 2025 wasn’t a dull one. A second, shorter ride the following evening, proved less eventful. And in both rides, the Zoox robotaxi handled the entire drive without incident — and primarily with ease.
And yet, the rides aren’t quite fully baked. It’s almost there, and to an autonomous vehicle first-timer, those rides might seem flawless. As a seasoned AV tester, I maybe know too much.
The two rides were still impressive, particularly how the Zoox robotaxi dealt with complex scenarios, or what some may call edge cases. And importantly, the rides felt normal even though I understand that riding in a custom-built robotaxi with no steering wheel or human driver can hardly be described as conventional.
Zoox co-founder and CTO Jesse Levinson, who joined me on the longer 16-mile ride, aims to make it as commonplace as getting into an Uber or Lyft, only better. It’s the focus of Zoox employees working at the Las Vegas depot, Foster City, California headquarters, factory in Fremont, California, and offices in Boston, San Diego, Seattle, and the U.K.
Their progress is notable. Since my last ride around Foster City in October, the company has rolled out its next-generation Zoox robotaxi, which features a number of hardware upgrades and changes. Levinson told me that hundreds of small changes have been made from the previous generation, including to the suspension, brakes, electronic drive units, and more powerful and efficient computers.
Other notable changes include a much-needed cushier bench, tweaks to the touchscreen user interface inside the vehicle, and a two-way audio interface on the exterior of the door that allows the Zoox operations team to communicate with first responders and law enforcement.
Previous Zoox robotaxis have had external speakers. This newer version now has prerecorded messages, which Zoox employees can trigger if “bad actors” try to mess with the vehicle, according to the company.
The Amazon-owned autonomous vehicle company began testing its purpose-built, electric, autonomous robotaxis on public streets in Las Vegas more than a year ago. Zoox started small in June 2023, first with a one-mile loop around the neighborhood where its Las Vegas facilities are located in the southwest region of the city. It grew from there.
Now, the company is testing its robotaxi on the public streets around its depot, the length of the Strip, and some of the roads adjacent to it. Zoox has not opened the robotaxi up to the public in Las Vegas. Today, only select media and employees are invited to ride in the city, according to Levinson.
Zoox expects to open up rides to the public in Las Vegas and San Francisco in 2025.
Both of my Zoox robotaxi rides felt safe. The vehicle accelerated smoothly and changed lanes with confidence and without the stutter or hesitation that I’ve experienced in numerous demo rides with other companies over the years.
However, Zoox still has a few areas to improve on the comfort front, and at times the self-driving system made choices that one might expect from a less-experienced driver. For instance, on both occasions the robotaxi encountered a construction zone, which shut down the far right lane. Most human drivers would merge early. The Zoox robotaxi drove right up to the cones and then cautiously merged into the other lane.
In three instances during my first ride the vehicle slowed to a stop at a traffic light and right before coming to a complete stop, hit the brakes a bit too hard. The effect was a bit jarring, although never unsafe. The suspension is also still a bit stiff for what a customer might expect from a premium robotaxi ride.
These small moments were minimal and short-lived. What stood out, however, was how Zoox handled two complex scenarios involving car crashes. In one case, the Zoox robotaxi was in the right lane and approaching a stop light. As we got to the intersection, the vehicle slowed and came to a stop several car lengths before the next vehicle. Looking out the window, we realized that the vehicle had just been involved in a car crash. There were no hazard lights, but people were milling about, and one person, who appeared injured, sat on the curb.
Meanwhile, traffic was piling up and leaving little room for escape. Within a minute, the Zoox robotaxi began backing up, slowly, then engaged its left indicator and eventually merged into the next lane. The entire event lasted less than two minutes.
The ability to execute driverless rides safely doesn’t guarantee business success. But it’s the required foundation to build a commercial operation. The two rides I took signaled that Zoox is ready for the next big leap: opening it up to the public.
