10 Years of Building Zoox

When Zoox started in 2014, it was driven by a clear vision: create autonomous mobility from the ground up. The goal of creating a safer, cleaner, and more enjoyable way to get around cities required an entirely new type of vehicle designed for AI to drive and humans to enjoy. This “purpose-built” design gave Zoox full control over integrating the necessary software and hardware for fully autonomous driving centered around the rider experience.

And in 10 years, Zoox has achieved just that. Designing a robotaxi capable of navigating human environments is no small feat. This transformation from concept to reality demanded innovative ideas and assembling the right team. Balancing a conceptual vision with the practicalities of building a safe, efficient, electric autonomous vehicle has been a testament to our resilience and determination.

Vehicle Design, the Early Years

“Our vision, from the start, has always been super clear—an amazing rider experience from A to B,” said Chris Stoffel, Director, Industrial and Creative Design. “We had to ask ourselves: ‘What does it take to deliver that?’”

That starts with the vehicle's look, accomplishing good design principles and proportions. The vehicle’s exterior design looks deceptively simple, with smooth connecting lines and a symmetrical, modular design. The finished product had to naturally evoke a sense of calm and approachability while seamlessly integrating design, engineering, and technology for an enjoyable rider experience. 

“We've wanted to design Zoox to be perfectly customizable to your particular mood and situation. Creating a purpose-built vehicle from the ground up allowed us to do that,” said Nahuel Battaglia, Industrial Design Lead.

With an initial design team of just a few people, plans were sketched by hand and developed into to-scale models using foam and clay. The vehicle had to address multiple challenges: aesthetic appeal, ease of service, scalable manufacturing, and providing an exceptional rider experience.

“We’ve always said we wanted a superior, premium vehicle,” said Chris. “That was a target from the beginning. The challenge was that no one had designed or engineered a vehicle in this configuration, so it was a lot of self-discovery, working with engineers, to see what was possible and what was not.”

Evolution of Zoox Vehicle Models

The first proof-of-concept model was built in 2015 at the first Zoox HQ, a renovated firehouse on a university campus. It was here that the team took its first autonomous drive on a private parking lot. 

Several prototype iterations were developed shortly after that, but it wasn’t until ‘the sketch’ (see above) that the vehicle truly unlocked its industrial design potential. With later models, the team validated four-wheel steering and completed its first-ever ‘bidi flip’ (bidirectionality); these features were integrated to simplify complex driving maneuvers in dense urban environments. 

In parallel to the Industrial Design team, the Engineering and Manufacturing teams also scaled. Doing everything under one roof from the start allowed Zoox to implement changes and improvements rapidly. Each new design iteration brought new learnings, processes, and improvements.

“We had a sensor architecture adjustment between two vehicle models,” said Andy Piper, VP Vehicle Development. “We were able to make this change quite quickly. It’s not like working with an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer), where this would require a lengthy process. Essentially, we were able to respond more quickly and continuously improve the vehicle as we advanced from prototype to a customer-focused vehicle.”

Scaling the Teams

As the vehicle models evolved, so did the Zoox team. Over the years, engineering teams have grown substantially. “We were especially nimble when we were smaller, and the details weren’t as crucial when dealing with different vehicle prototypes,” Andy explained. “But now, as we set ourselves up to scale and build hundreds and then thousands of vehicles, small details matter. We’re growing up.”

Scaling up production and teams posed challenges, especially in Silicon Valley's competitive tech landscape. “When we initially sat down, we knew we had to break this problem down,” said Georgina Salamy, Senior Director, Talent Acquisition and Insights Talent. “It became clear that the most important things were the intangible things. Tangible skills—coding, presenting, math—are important, but we were also looking at the soft skills: integrity, being inquisitive, and being deeply interested in what we were trying to accomplish.”

Zoox prioritized hiring people who believed in the company's mission. “We held a very high standard from the beginning,” Georgina added. “It served us well because it meant we were hiring people we knew believed in the company and wanted to be here for the right reasons.”

Building our AI

Alongside the hardware, the vehicle's autonomy was developed from scratch. Zoox retrofitted a test fleet of Toyota Highlanders with an almost identical sensor suite as our robotaxi, which enabled Zoox to start mapping, gathering data, and fine-tuning our AI stack on public roads from 2016 while the purpose-built robotaxi was in development.

Over the years, the AI stack has become more sophisticated while always focusing on creating a transportation experience centered around the rider. This was made possible through close collaboration between our Firmware, Software Infrastructure, Simulation, and Quality Assurance teams. “What Zoox did incredibly well was always sticking to the end product,” said Marc Wimmershoff, VP, Autonomy Software. “What experience should we be after? From there, it was building it out. Autonomous software is just one piece of a giant puzzle. In other words, optimizing every aspect for all these distinct pieces coming together.” 

From the software side, one of the focuses has been on improving our data and metrics. “Riders wouldn’t want to be late; they’d want to arrive at their destination on time,” Marc said. “And, on top of that, we’d want the ride to be comfortable. The software building blocks have changed over the years, but these core factors of safety, arrival time, and experiencing a comfortable ride have never changed.”

Building safety into our vehicles and operations has been a very iterative process. We’ve put our vehicle through a series of safety analyses and rigorous tests to build out what we call our ‘safety case.’ All these pieces have evolved over the last ten years. We started small, in contained environments, proving it met our safety standards at each step along the way.

“Initially, we focused on hardware and the vehicle platform,” said Andrew Crego, Manager, Autonomous Driving Verification. “Do we have the right redundant capabilities in place? Are we connecting everything right? Do we have the right software? That was the initial journey.”

"From there, we began testing everything,” he said. “We built test equipment to ensure the vehicle did the right thing. Once the hardware was responding and we were comfortable in its safety, we needed to move on to prove to ourselves that the AI was safe. We began building up methodologies, testing corner cases at the test track, running mass simulation pipelines, and minimizing risks.” 

Another crucial aspect is ensuring all vehicles meet homologation standards. “We’ve always been committed to adhering to the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards,” said Amanda Prescott, Senior Director, Homologation. “This commitment involves continually evaluating and testing new iterations of the robotaxi and software to maintain certification and meet all safety standards.”

“Our job is never done,” said Amanda. “We are constantly evaluating the changes that come in, deciding if we need to do new testing, and doing that new testing to ensure that we continue to deliver on those promises and those requirements to meet all of those safety standards here in the U.S.” 

“At the end of the day, we want people to enjoy the experience,” Chris concluded. “That’s what we’ve designed Zoox for. If we’ve done our job well, you’ll just sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride. Take your time back to do whatever you want. That’s what we don’t get anywhere else.”

Our journey is far from over. We remain dedicated to pushing the boundaries of what is possible, continuously improving our technology, growing our team, and expanding our presence in San Francisco and Foster City, California, Las Vegas, Nevada, and testing in Austin, Texas, and Miami, Florida, as we prepare for our first paying riders. The road ahead is filled with opportunities and challenges. With our vision, team, and technology, we are poised to redefine urban mobility and provide a transportation experience like no other. 

Thank you for believing in the Zoox story; we can’t wait for you to experience your first ride in the not-too-distant future.