Self-driving taxis with no steering wheels, no pedals, no humans aboard are no longer science fiction on the Vegas Strip, although some passengers appear nervous sitting in a vehicle with no human behind the wheel. The Amazon-backed robotaxi developer Zoox is providing free rides to select destinations for a few people at a time in Las Vegas, giving them a go in a custom-built autonomous vehicle that looks more rolling lounge and less car.
The service is restricted by a tight perimeter for now, but it represents a significant first: Zoox is the only company running public rides in a fully driverless vehicle designed from scratch without legacy controls. This is what it’s like to take a step inside — and how far technology has come.
How the Zoox Robotaxi Works
Zoox’s electric pod is symmetrical in its front-to-back orientation, with powered axles and steering at both its leading and trailing ends. This allows true bidirectional driving, so that the vehicle never needs to do a U-turn to “face forward.” The operational maximum is city-speed traffic; it shuns highways and maintains order and predictability in heavy traffic.
Opticwise, a 360-degree sensor suite merges short- and long-range LiDAR, radar, visual and thermal cameras, as well as external microphones. The high-mounted exterior corner pod sensors are intentional: they elevate the line of sight to see cross traffic and pedestrians sooner than if mounted lower on the car. There’s also redundancy in both the actuators and the compute, which is reportedly exactly the kind of safety-first design regulators are looking for in commercial AVs.
Riding Free in Vegas
Riders can hail a Zoox via the company’s app and select from a short list of destinations; the list includes Resorts World, AREA15, Topgolf and a few other nearby resort and entertainment facilities. There is pre-mapping of the routes limited to a specified operational design domain (ODD), and this assist the system to manage with repeatable scenarios of high confidence.
Now while Zoox scales capacity and collects real-world performance data, the trips are free. (The company says the paid fares will eventually be “consistent” with mainstream ride-hail prices, and that the service will expand to other destinations, and gradually other cities, once regulators approve.)
Inside the Cabin: The Rider Experience
Step inside, and the first thing you notice is what is absent: a driver seat, a steering wheel, a dashboard. Two sets of seats are arranged face to face, with ample legroom and a flat floor for your bags. Every seat receives a touchscreen to start or end the ride, change temperature and music, and reach support. Wireless Qi charging, USB-C ports and cup holders are at every post.
The ride quality is composed. Acceleration, braking and lane changes feel measured more than dramatic — the car seems to mirror the restraint of a chauffeur. The system is wary around work zones and construction cones — Las Vegas has more than its share — sometimes slowing to reassess, sometimes chicken-choking when a safe gap is confirmed. In corner cases, Zoox uses human-in-the-loop permission to perform more complex maneuvers – a standard safety procedure in commercial AV deployments.
Ambient cues are distinct from a standard car. Outside, you’ll hardly hear a turn-signal click, and the windows do not open. In front, beam-forming speakers can emit nice honks or messages, including to first responders in exigency; Zoox claims it is experimenting with ways to make its interaction with pedestrians and cyclists more apparent. A ceiling camera captures the cabin for safety, and emergency-release buttons activate the sliding doors when the power is off. Airbags aim all over, reflecting the vehicle’s symmetrical design. Under the floor, there is a 133kWh battery pack. Zoox is aiming for up to 16 hours of activity per charge, but in the desert, the air conditioning consumes out, and the real-world range plummets. Zoox will need to refine its thermal strategies as it expands operations, but heat-load management is a well-known headache for EV fleets in Las Vegas. The vehicle’s smoothness is not coincidental. The system constrains the pace and routes on which it travels to well-mapped surface roads, maintaining perception and design in the conditions it has been conditioned for the most. The trade-off is that zoox does not offer airport pickups or highway travel; passengers only get a more peaceful, predictable drive. Zoox operates in accordance with the State of Nevada’s independent vehicle assessment and operation program, and it maintains that any route is protected by remote support specialists. The company has admitted to attempting to improve its properties in rare situations. Zoox has been investigated by national regulators, like other private AV companies. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently conducted an analysis into an alarmingly broad segment of braking incidents involving Zoox test cars. The scandal demonstrates how aggressiveness regulators are investigating the safety and security of completely driverless technology.
Context matters. Cruise, a onetime front-runner, suspended driverless operations after a splashy incident, and Motional has pared back its plans for Las Vegas. But Waymo has continued to grow paid service in other cities with modified consumer vehicles, complete with traditional controls. Zoox stands apart, though: Its robotaxi is freshly minted, designed from the ground up to be truly driverless in there — no wheel, no pedals, no “fallback” driver — and it raises both the stakes and the bar on execution.
What’s Next for Zoox
Zoox intends to add more Las Vegas destinations and is gearing up for a wider release in San Francisco once regulators give the green light. Highway assistance and airport shuttle will be down the line, but only when the technology stack reaches acceptable performance and safety levels. For now, it’s all about density: perfect the city miles, then scale.
If you’re in Las Vegas, the takeaway is straightforward: you can summon a ride, pay nothing and get into a new driverless vehicle that never masquerades as an old car.
It’s a preview of what autonomy might feel like when the vehicle is designed for riders — loungelike, quiet and purposefully unhurried — rather than retrofitted for a world still centered on the driver’s seat.