Amazon-owned Zoox is bringing its autonomous vehicle testing to the nation’s capital, making Washington, D.C., the company’s first Mid-Atlantic site and eighth testing city nationwide.
The company will begin its operations by deploying a small fleet of retrofitted SUVs equipped with safety drivers.
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The vehicles will be used for manual mapping within designated areas of the city. Full autonomous testing is expected to begin later this year.
Zoox officials said D.C. offers a challenging environment for driverless technology.
“The city’s street network includes many traffic circles, diagonal avenues, and high pedestrian and bicycle traffic. Additionally, D.C.’s mix of humid summers, occasional snowfall, and unpredictable rainfall creates diverse weather conditions for testing driving performance,” the company said in a statement.
With the addition of D.C., the Zoox testing fleet is now operating in eight cities, including the San Francisco Bay Area, Las Vegas, Seattle, Austin, Miami, Los Angeles, and Atlanta.
Zoox, which was acquired by Amazon in 2020, has been expanding its testing footprint from the West Coast to the East Coast. The company said its ultimate goal is to build a safe, sustainable autonomous ride-hailing service.