Zoox Begins Autonomous Vehicle Testing in Washington, D.C.

• Zoox has launched testing operations in Washington, D.C., its first location in the Mid-Atlantic region.
• The expansion brings Zoox's active test cities to eight, joining sites like San Francisco, Las Vegas, and Miami.

Zoox is expanding its autonomous vehicle testing to Washington, D.C., marking its first entry into the Mid-Atlantic region. The move builds on the company’s ongoing rollout across major U.S. cities which now consists of eight testing sites.

Washington, D.C. offers a complex urban environment with traffic circles, diagonal avenues, and high pedestrian and bicycle traffic. The city’s humid summers, snowfall, and rainfall create varied weather conditions that support robust testing of vehicle performance. The test fleet in D.C. includes retrofitted SUVs with safety drivers, beginning with manual mapping before transitioning to autonomous testing later this year.

Zoox recently launched its robotaxi service in Las Vegas, positioning the rollout as a first for a fully driverless ride-hailing service in a purpose-built robotaxi. With the addition of D.C., Zoox is now operating in San Francisco, Las Vegas, Seattle, Austin, Miami, Los Angeles, and Atlanta.

🌀 Tom’s Take:

A cross-country push like this signals Zoox’s intent to compete directly with the nation’s AV leaders.

Source: Zoox