Zoox, an autonomous vehicle company owned by Amazon, has opened its first full-scale production facility. The facility plans to build 10,000 Robotaxis one day.
The facility marks the latest steps in Zoox’s evolution from the development stage. The company is currently testing vehicles in several US cities and providing vehicles to early access participants in Las Vegas. Its early rider program will expand to San Francisco later this year, and Zoox will launch paid public vehicles in Las Vegas again this year.
The 220,000-square-foot factory is located in Hayward, California, near Zoox’s Foster City headquarters. It is the company’s second production facility in the Bay Area, and is being added to the nearby Fremont council warehouse.
Zoox says the new factory will be used for engineering, software and hardware integration, assembly, storage and testing. The Hayward Production Facility will assemble custom-built Zoox Robotaxis for multiple commercial markets starting in Las Vegas and San Francisco. Zoox plans to develop its commercial robotax business in Austin and Miami over the next few years.
The company says the facility’s “unique layout and building equipment” could be adapted to a variety of vehicle designs as the Robotaxi lineup expands in the future. The facility is run by a mixture of human workers and robots. Zoox said human workers will handle most of the work, including applying glue to glass installations and transporting robotic acid through assembly lines.
Fix: This story previously mischaracterized the current situation of Zoox’s early rider program and commercials. The program is in effect in Las Vegas and has been updated to reflect the start of paid rides this year.
