https://www.autoblog.com/news/tesla-isnt-going-to-like-its-robotaxi-rivals-newest-announcement
Zoox takes a significant step toward mass production
Tesla is days away from its June 22 robotaxi launch in Austin, Texas, but autonomous rideshare company Zoox, backed by Amazon, has bigger news. Zoox has opened its first large-scale robotaxi production facility in Hayward, California—a 220,000-square-foot site equivalent to 3 ½ American football fields capable of assembling more than 10,000 vehicles per year at full capacity. While Waymo is the undisputed leader in self-driving rideshare service, Zoox is considered its top competitor. The company is currently testing in multiple U.S. cities with more than 20 vehicles and plans to launch commercial operations later this year in Las Vegas and San Francisco. Zoox also expects to begin onboarding public riders soon for its testing in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood.

Zoox
The Amazon-backed rideshare service’s autonomous fleet uses purpose-built, box-like vehicles designed purely for riders without a steering wheel or pedals. In perfect timing, the NHTSA just announced that it is streamlining reviews of self-driving car manufacturers’ requests for exemptions from safety rules requiring steering wheels or pedals. The application, which previously took years if companies received an answer at all, is now expected to take months.
Zoox will use its new Hayward, California, manufacturing facility for robotaxi engineering and software/hardware integration, robotaxi assembly, storage of robotaxi components, shipping and receiving, and end-of-line testing preceding deployment. Vehicles undergoing manufacturing at Zoox have robots perform specific tasks like applying precision-based adhesive for glass installation and moving cars down the line while humans complete remaining duties. Zoox expects its new facility’s scaling to provide hundreds of jobs for the San Francisco Bay Area.
Tesla’s newest production announcement raises questions about demand
Tesla also had a production announcement this week, but it received mixed feedback, causing the company’s stock to decline almost 4% from Tuesday’s market closing to the end of Wednesday’s trading. The electric automaker is halting Model Y and Cybertruck production for a week at its Texas Gigafactory plant for the second time in two months, starting June 30. Tesla states the temporary shutdown is for factory line maintenance and other improvements aimed at boosting production, but a recent report from Electrek highlighted how there is an increasing number of Tesla vehicles parked in lots not linked to the company’s retail, delivery, or service locations, indicating excess inventory.
The now-shutdown Chesterfield Mall in Westchester, Missouri, is currently holding hundreds of unsold Teslas in its parking lot located about three miles from one of the automaker’s dealerships. Tim Lowe, senior vice president of leasing and development for The Staenberg Group, told Fox 2: “Tesla has a short-term lease to park Tesla cars at Chesterfield Mall. We relocated them to the Dillard’s parcel when we started mall demolition.” Lowe added that Tesla is six months into its 16-month lease for the lot, which has held anywhere from 200-400 cars at a time. Tesla will launch its robotaxi service in Austin using its Model Y SUV, with the company’s Cybercab purpose-built for autonomous ridesharing scheduled to launch full-scale production next year.

Zoox
Final thoughts
Zoox’s latest production announcement for its purpose-built robotaxi places it well ahead of Tesla’s Cybercab manufacturing, increasing its likelihood of being Waymo’s most significant competitor. The Amazon-backed autonomous rideshare company’s other assembly facility in Fremont, California, is a site for its retrofitted test fleet and sensor pod configuration. Instead of specifying initial production targets, Zoox said in a release that it plans to grow its robotaxi production to match commercial demand.
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June 23, 2025 at 08:24AM