A Ride in the Zoox Robotaxi at CES 2025: Successes and Lessons
A construction zone. A car crash. A double parked truck. A motorcycle cop with red-white-and blue lights flashing.
My one-hour journey along the Las Vegas Strip in a custom-built Zoox robotaxi during CES 2025 was far from uneventful. A second, shorter ride the following evening was more subdued. In both instances, the Zoox robotaxi managed the entire ride autonomously and mostly with ease.
Despite this, the rides aren’t yet polished to perfection. They are close—perhaps flawless to a newcomer to autonomous vehicles. However, as an experienced AV tester, I might be more aware of the nuances.
The rides were impressive, particularly in how the Zoox robotaxi handled complex scenarios, or what some might call edge cases. Importantly, the experiences felt ordinary, even though riding in a custom-built robotaxi without a steering wheel or human driver is anything but conventional.
Image credits: Kirsten Korosec
Jesse Levinson, co-founder and CTO of Zoox, accompanied me on the 16-mile journey. He aims to make riding in a Zoox vehicle as routine as using an Uber or Lyft, but with enhancements. This vision drives the team working at their Las Vegas depot, Foster City headquarters, the Fremont factory, and offices in Boston, San Diego, Seattle, and the U.K.
The progress at Zoox is considerable. Since my last ride in Foster City, the company has introduced its next-generation Zoox robotaxi, featuring various hardware upgrades. Levinson indicated hundreds of small changes have been integrated, affecting the suspension, brakes, drive units, and computing power.
The updates include a more comfortable bench, an improved touchscreen interface inside the vehicle, and a two-way audio system at the door for communication between the Zoox operations team, first responders, and law enforcement.
Previous Zoox robotaxis had external speakers. Now, this version comes equipped with prerecorded messages to deter "bad actors," activated by Zoox personnel if necessary.
Image credits: Kirsten Korosec
The Amazon-owned company started testing its electric, autonomous robotaxis on public streets in Las Vegas over a year ago. It's expanded its operations from an initial one-mile loop to broader areas, including around the depot and along the Strip.
Zoox hasn’t yet made its rides available to the public in Las Vegas—only select media and employees are invited to participate. They plan to open public rides in Las Vegas and San Francisco in 2025.
Throughout both of my rides, the Zoox robotaxi operated safely, accelerating smoothly, and changing lanes confidently without the hesitation seen in other demo rides by different companies.
That said, there are areas needing improvement in ride comfort. Occasionally, the self-driving system acted much like a novice driver might. For example, when approaching a construction zone that closed the far right lane, the vehicle merged at the last moment rather than early, as most human drivers would.
During the initial ride, there were three instances where the vehicle slowed at a traffic light but applied the brakes too abruptly right before stopping. While jarring, it was not unsafe. The suspension also felt stiffer than expected for a premium robotaxi.
These moments were brief and minor. Notable was Zoox's handling of two intricate scenarios involving car accidents. In one situation, as we neared an intersection, the robotaxi stopped several lengths behind a vehicle involved in a crash. After assessing the scene, it carefully maneuvered around, backing up and merging into another lane efficiently.
The ability to execute driverless rides safely is foundational but not an assurance of business success. Yet, these rides signaled Zoox’s readiness for its next crucial step: unlocking its services to the general public.