A regulatory cap limiting Zoox to 100 robotaxis in Nevada is set to expire this month, clearing the way for the Amazon-owned company to expand its commercial fleet of custom-built robotaxis in Las Vegas just as competition heats up.
The Nevada Transportation Authority (NTA) permit that imposed the 100-vehicle cap is set to expire September 25, TechCrunch has learned. An NTA official and a Zoox spokesperson confirmed the change, which is also outlined in an updated permit.
This doesn’t mean Las Vegas is about to be inundated with hundreds of Zoox robotaxis. But it does give Zoox more freedom to grow — and at a critical moment. Waymo recently launched a commercial service in Las Vegas, while Tesla and Uber have secured their own driverless ride-hailing permits.
Today, Zoox has about 100 custom-built robotaxis — cube-like vehicles that lack steering wheels and pedals — spread across four U.S. cities, including Austin and Miami. The bulk of the fleet is in Las Vegas and San Francisco. And for now, Las Vegas remains the only city where Zoox is charging for rides. Zoox must still obtain another permit from California regulators before it can charge for passengers there.
Zoox began charging for robotaxi rides in Las Vegas last month after receiving a temporary exemption from certain federal motor vehicle safety standards from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
That exemption was crucial for Zoox because unlike Waymo, its robotaxis were designed without a steering wheel, pedals, or other traditional and federally mandated controls. The commercial exemption allows Zoox to deploy up to 2,500 vehicles per year for the next two years.
It’s unclear how quickly Zoox will take advantage of its newfound freedom in Nevada. A Zoox spokesperson declined to say how many robotaxis the company plans to add to its Las Vegas fleet or even how many are in operation there today. Robotaxi Tracker, which collects data on autonomous vehicles, estimates Zoox has more than 30 vehicles operating in the city.
The spokesperson told TechCrunch that Zoox plans to steadily increase the size of its robotaxi fleet over the next several months “to meet the high demand in Las Vegas and other markets.”
Zoox will have lots of company, no matter how fast it expands. In August, the NTA approved three permits that will allow Tesla, Uber, and Waymo to operate commercial robotaxi services in Clark County, home to Las Vegas. Together, the permits could bring up to 7,000 robotaxis to the area over the next 12 months.
Waymo has wasted little time acting on that permit. The company opened its robotaxi service to customers in Las Vegas earlier this month. Waymo told TechCrunch at the time that it would start with “dozens” of its new Ojai minivan robotaxis in a 23-square-mile area that includes the Strip south of Highway 589 and into Boulder Junction.
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