Self-driving car startup Zoox has revealed that it has expanded into Las Vegas and started testing of its autonomous prototypes.
Company chief executive Jesse Levinson told Tech Crunch that Las Vegas will serve as an anchor market for Zoox and that it hopes to eventually launch an autonomous ride-hailing service in the city. Zoox got the go-ahead from the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles in early 2019 to drive autonomously on the state’s roads and is currently mapping and test-driving new routes in Las Vegas.
To ensure the costs of its self-driving technology development don’t blow out, Zoox is sending its modified Toyota Highlander prototypes to Las Vegas for roughly six weeks at a time and intends on soon expanding its time and footprint through the city. Not only that but the autonomous startup that has raised more than $800 million wants to start demonstrating its own self-driving vehicle built from the ground-up next year.
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The Verge reports that this prototype is similar in size and shape to a Mini Cooper and features an interior free of a steering wheel or a traditional dashboard.
Zoox has previously been testing its prototypes through the streets of San Francisco. According to it, Las Vegas offers “an opportunity to extend learning in a second dense urban environment; one that has diverse and unique use cases compared to driving in San Francisco. For example, Las Vegas provides interesting scenarios for our vehicles to encounter, like reversible lanes, complex pick-up and drop-off zones, high temperatures and more night-time activity.”
