The steering wheel is gone, the pedals are gone, and now the meter is about to start running. Zoox, the autonomous vehicle arm owned by Amazon, has finalized the production-ready design of its purpose-built robotaxi and is preparing to charge passengers for rides for the first time.
This isn’t a retrofitted sedan with sensors bolted on. The Zoox robotaxi is a compact, bidirectional MPV pod measuring 11.9 feet long, with sliding doors on both sides so it never needs to reverse or find a conventional parking orientation. Inside, four adult passengers sit facing each other, lounge-style, in a cabin that deliberately has no driver’s seat, no steering wheel and no pedals. It’s a rolling room, not a car with the driver removed.
Underneath the friendly exterior sits serious hardware. The vehicle runs on a 133-kWh lithium-ion battery, split across two 66.5-kWh packs, feeding a fully electric, bidirectional drivetrain. The recent redesign was subtle rather than dramatic — Zoox tuned the vehicle to improve rider comfort rather than reinvent the pod.
The timeline has moved quickly. In late June 2026, the newest generation of Zoox vehicles was released to the field, expanding real-world testing. Then, on July 30, 2026, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration gave Zoox the green light to begin charging customers for rides — provided the company first secures state and local approval in each area it operates.
Zoox has said it will begin charging for rides this month. That marks the transition from free demonstration trips to a genuine commercial service.
As for cost, Zoox hasn’t published a rate card. The company expects per-trip pricing to sit roughly in line with traditional taxis and ride-hailing apps like Uber and Lyft, with fares shifting by time of day and by city — the kind of dynamic pricing riders already know from their phones.
- Capacity: Four adults, facing each other
- Controls: No steering wheel, no pedals in the cabin
- Battery: 133-kWh lithium-ion (two 66.5-kWh packs)
- Body: Bidirectional MPV pod, 11.9 feet long, dual sliding doors
The bigger picture is that Zoox is now competing head-on in a robotaxi race that has largely been defined by modified production cars. By building a ground-up vehicle designed only to carry passengers autonomously, Amazon’s subsidiary is betting that purpose-built beats converted. With regulators clearing the path to paid rides, that bet is finally about to be tested with real customers and real fares.
