Five years after acquiring autonomous vehicle startup Zoox Inc, Amazon.com Inc. entered the robotaxi market with the debut of a service in Las Vegas. On debut, rides using Zoox robotaxis are free and available via the Zoox app, which is on both Android and iOS. The service is currently available only on and around the Las Vegas Strip and possible destinations are limited, such as to specific resort and entertainment properties in the area. The idea behind starting the service for free is that it allows riders to become familiar with Zoox and share feedback before the service scales up. Where Zoox gets interesting, particularly compared with Waymo, is that Zoox is not using retrofitted vehicles but instead offers what they call a “purpose-built autonomous pod”. Each Zoox vehicle is fully electric, measures about 3.6 meters (11.8 feet) in length and has a symmetrical, carriage-style design. The interior of the Zoox vehicles, or pods, includes two bench seats that face each other with no driver’s seat, steering wheel or pedals. The design has allowed Zoox to optimize for autonomy, passenger comfort and safety in ways that conventional vehicle conversions cannot achieve. The technology deployed in each pod includes lidar, radar, high-resolution cameras and infrared sensors covering a full 270-degree field of view at each corner of the vehicle. The overlapping array has been designed to eliminate blind spots and allows the pod to detect obstacles, pedestrians and vehicles in challenging conditions, including low light and adverse weather. The pod design also supports bidirectional movement, meaning the pod can drive forward and backward without having to turn around, negating the need for U-turns or reversing.