Zoox Gets 1st Approval From USA For Paid Robotaxis — With No Human Controls

This news is about robotaxis, not home energy upgrades, but here's what happened. Federal regulators at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration gave Zoox, the self-driving car company owned by Amazon, approval to start charging people for rides in vehicles that have no steering wheel or pedals at all. This is different from companies like Waymo, which use regular cars fitted with self-driving technology but still keep the human controls. Zoox's vehicles are built from scratch without any way for a person to take over driving.

The approval lets Zoox deploy up to 2,500 vehicles per year for each of the next two years, starting with paid rides in Las Vegas. The company still needs separate approval from state and local governments before it can operate in new cities. Zoox is not allowed to sell these vehicles to the public, and it has to report certain safety incidents, like crashes or the car stopping somewhere it shouldn't. Regulators say they can revoke the approval if safety problems show up.

This has nothing to do with home energy costs or rebates, but it is a notable first for driverless vehicles in the United States. Other companies, including Waymo, are likely to seek similar approval for controls-free vehicles down the road.