Zoox presents its fully autonomous electric ridesharing shuttle
The future belongs to autonomous mobility services. This is just one of the statements I have made, but new publications from this sector show that the development is always advancing. After all, it just sounds more comfortable to order an autonomous shuttle to your front door instead of sitting in your own car.
In addition to Waymo, which has already set up an autonomous taxi service in the Phoenix area, and Cruise, supported by General Motors, which is also testing autonomous vehicles on a large scale, Zoox has now also presented its first fully autonomous shuttle. A steering wheel is a thing of the past here, the vehicle should be on the road for 16 hours on one charge.
A total of 4 passengers fit in the vehicle, who can be transported through cities or suburban areas at up to 120 kilometers per hour. Two battery units will ensure that in the near future passengers in cities like San Francisco or Las Vegas will get to their destination efficiently. The journeys are processed via an app.
Zoox did not want to reveal how much such a trip should cost. It is only mentioned that this is affordable and calculated on the basis of different tariffs. By planning the route as effectively as possible, the next trip is planned during the journey, thus achieving the highest possible utilization. If you don’t want to share the four-seater, you can also travel alone or with friends.
The parts of the shuttle are produced in a factory in California. These are then delivered to Zoox in modules and finally assembled there. If you ramp up production, between 10,000 and 15,000 units would roll off the assembly line per year. In order to be as safe and comfortable as possible, the vehicles have a capsule made of sensors at each end, each of which can see 270 degrees. Airbags are built directly into the seat to protect the occupant in the event of an accident.
Zoox should start pretty soon, but today we only want to say that unfortunately it won’t be 2021 yet. Nevertheless, the now completed shuttle looks really impressive and futuristic, a real alternative to having your own car. Whether and when a launch in Europe is planned is still in the stars.
via Bloomberg
