Overview

• The 220,000-square-foot Hayward plant will handle robotaxi engineering, parts storage, hardware and software integration, and on-site testing including simulated rain and high-speed dynamometer runs.
• At full capacity, the facility aims to assemble over 10,000 purpose-built autonomous vehicles annually, extending output beyond Zoox’s smaller Fremont factory.
• Zoox’s toaster-shaped robotaxis operate without steering wheels or pedals, setting its in-house design apart from Waymo’s retrofitted Jaguars and Tesla’s Model Y-based offering.
• The company plans to begin paid rides in Las Vegas later this year and then expand service areas in San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood.
• Regulators including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have investigated autonomous vehicle incidents, leading to recalls and highlighting safety challenges for Zoox’s commercial launch.