Zoox chooses Washington DC as its next autonomous vehicle testbed

Amazon-owned Zoox will start mapping the streets of Washington D.C. as it ramps up to begin testing its self-driving vehicles in the nation’s capital this year.

Zoox said in a blog post on Tuesday that it would begin by manually driving Toyota Highlanders equipped with its sensors and self-driving software to map the city. The company plans to start testing its autonomous vehicles (with human safety operators behind the wheel) later this year.

“With its growing population and high demand for flexible transport options, the District is an ideal next location and optimal place to begin testing and mapping our technology on the East Coast,” the company wrote in its blog post.

Zoox wouldn’t share details on how many autonomous vehicles will be used for testing in the city. A spokesperson told TechCrunch the company will start with a small fleet that would grow over time.

The Foster City, California-based company has grown well beyond the confines of Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay since its founding in 2014. Today, Zoox runs hundreds of test vehicles on public roads and private test tracks in Austin, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Miami, San Francisco, and Seattle. Washington DC will be its eighth test site.

Zoox is also working towards launching a commercial robotaxi service with its growing fleet of custom-built robotaxis that lack traditional controls like a steering wheel or pedals. The company recently launched a free robotaxi service in Las Vegas, an anchor market where it has had offices and conducted testing since 2019. Last November, Zoox started testing its custom self-driving vehicles in San Francisco.

The company is ultimately aiming to launch a commercial robotaxi service in multiple markets. It still needs to meet certain regulatory requirements, which include receiving an exemption from the federal government to deploy its custom, driverless vehicles commercially.

Zoox has made progress on that front: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration gave Zoox an exemption in August to demonstrate its custom-built robotaxis on public roads, though it only covers research and demonstrations on public roads. Zoox has since filed a separate application that would broaden the scope and pave the way for the launch of a commercial robotaxi service.