Feds To Amazon’s Robotaxi Company: How The Hell Is This Legal?

Autonomous vehicles, robotaxis, driverless cars, Johnny Cabs, et cetera. These were supposed to be the next big thing and, yet, they mostly make the news for bad reasons these days. Ford and VW-backed Argo.ai completed folded. GM’s Cruise is mostly notable lately for getting its driverless cars stuck on this one San Francisco street. Amazon’s subsidiary Zoox has mostly avoided negative attention, until this week when we found out the feds are looking into the company’s self-certification.

If there’s a theme of our morning news roundup today it’s that, well, things don’t always work out the way you want them to in this business. Let’s start with Zoox and work our way through the mess.

The U.S. Government Has A Few Questions For Zoox

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), like most government entities with investigative powers, has to be careful about what it says. The wrong choice of words can send a company’s stock crashing down and generally upset financial markets. When reading a government report or statement, it’s therefore often necessary to read into what is being implied.

Here is a link to the brief statement from NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation about Amazon’s Zoox, if you want to look yourself, but it’s short enough that I’ll just quote it here:

On June 30, 2022, Zoox, Inc. (Zoox) certified that a passenger vehicle it had produced met all applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS). Zoox issued a press release shortly thereafter announcing the certification. Zoox describes the “purpose-built” vehicle as bi-directional, equipped with an automated driving system, and lacking traditional driving controls. On September 6, 2022, NHTSA issued a Special Order directing Zoox to answer certain questions and provide information relating to the company’s basis for certifying that the vehicle met all applicable FMVSS. Zoox responded to the Special Order on November 7, 2022. As NHTSA continues to evaluate these responses, the agency has determined that further examination is necessary into the process and technical data on which Zoox relied when certifying the Zoox vehicle and related issues. In particular, NHTSA will consider the extent to which Zoox’s certification basis depended upon unilaterally developed test procedures or determinations that certain standards were inapplicable due to the unique configuration of the vehicle.

There’s a lot of coded language here, which we’ll go through (especially the bolded parts), but it ain’t good news if you’re Zoox.

First, some background, as reported by Automotive News yesterday:

Unlike a conventional car and the vehicles most other robotaxi developers are using, the Zoox vehicle lacks the steering wheel, brake pedal and other controls human drivers need.

Zoox started using the robotaxi last month to transport employees between two company offices in Foster City, Calif., after receiving a permit from the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles. To obtain the permit, Zoox self-certified that the EV met existing FMVSS, CEO Aicha Evans said.

Ok, so Zoox makes an autonomous vehicle that looks like a futurustic robotaxi. It’s important here to note that people generally have a false impression of how cars become road legal. I’ve gotten the sense from regular consumers that they assume the government gets every car model before it goes to market, looks it over, evaluates its mileage, and crash tests it. The reality is that the government merely creates guidelines and allows companies to do all the testing themselves. Only a small fraction of models on the road are ever actually tested.

This is called “self-certification” and it means the government doesn’t have to engage in a lot of expensive or time-consuming testing. I’d argue the government should do that, but it’s not how it works.

So Zoox designs a taxi, “tests” it, submits its self-certification, and puts out a press release on June 30th of last year saying they were the first real robotaxi (i.e., not a regular car turned into a robotaxi like Waymo or Cruise) to be road legal. Here’s the key bit from what the company said:

The Zoox robotaxi was built from the ground up for riders and does not rely on traditional driving controls such as a steering wheel or gas and brake pedals. So how does Zoox meet the FMVSS requirements prescribed for traditional vehicles without relying on this historical equipment?

From the beginning, we challenged ourselves to create a vehicle that would be compliant with FMVSS requirements within the current regulatory structure. We intended to self-certify our purpose-built vehicle without the need for regulatory changes or requesting exemptions.

Again, bolding is mine. The FMVSS acronym stands for the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, i.e. all the requirements needed to make a car legal (you can see the full list here). According to NHTSA, the agency immediately requested information to find out how Zoox met the requirements with its robotaxi. This announcement from NHTSA today implies that the information Zoox turned over did not quell the concerns of the feds. Let’s get back to the key bit I excerpted above:

NHTSA will consider the extent to which Zoox’s certification basis depended upon unilaterally developed test procedures or determinations that certain standards were inapplicable due to the unique configuration of the vehicle.

The “unilaterally developed test procedures” is completely in line with what Zoox implied in its press release. Federal guidelines weren’t built for these types of vehicles so it sort of makes sense that new test procedures have to be created, though it’s maybe slightly hubristic to think the Feds will just accept them.

What really gets me, though, is this bit: “determinations that certain standards were inapplicable due to the unique configuration of the vehicle.” The FMVSS contains a whole section (571.204) on how a steering column and shaft works, for instance, which is an interesting question for a car that doesn’t have one.

This is merely my interpretation, but it sounds to me like NHTSA is implying that Zoox just tossed a bunch of laws it didn’t think applied to it out the window. The FMVSS, to be fair, does contain guidelines for low-speed vehicles and motorcycles, and not all of those are applicable to all vehicles.

Automotive News got a quote from Zoox and it’s important to include the company’s side here:

“Safety is foundational to Zoox. Given we are the first in the industry to self-certify a purpose-built robotaxi to the FMVSS, this is an expected next step for our regulatory journey,” he said in the statement. “As you’ll see in NHTSA’s request, there are no concerns, violations or accusations made by NHTSA regarding Zoox. This is a request to gain an additional level of details and information on the self-certification tests Zoox performed, which have met or exceeded applicable FMVSS performance requirements.”

It is entirely possible that Zoox just nailed it and NHTSA is merely double-checking the company’s work or, perhaps, hoping to learn from Zoox all about how awesome they are at testing. It’s also possible this is like when you’re a freshman in college and your prof asks for a paper on the role of primogeniture in “A Winter’s Tale” with a complete list of citations and you explain you don’t have any because you didn’t cite anyone!

GM’s Cruise Cutting Costs After Spending $2 Billion Last Year

GM’s autonomous vehicle company, Cruise, isn’t exactly cruising along smoothly, either. Last year was rough. It had whisteblowers complaining about the safety of its robotaxis. There was that weird accident. The solution? Cost cutting.

Per a Reuters article on Cruise’s plans:

“We’ll continue to look at hardware, software – both in terms of component costs as well as the quantity of components that are on the vehicle – and continue to drive cost out as we move forward,” Cruise’s chief operating officer Gil West said at a technology conference.

At Cruise, General Motors burned through nearly $2 billion last year. West did not give details of spending estimates this year.

The “burned through” is rough here, because it implies that randomly shutting down on San Francisco streets with a small fleet of Chevy Bolts isn’t exactly setting the world on fire. Cruise is working on a vehicle called Origin which, like the Zoox taxi, has no steering wheel and is more shuttle-like.

London Has More EV Black Taxis Than Diesel Ones

The great city of London still relies on humans–famous for their great memories and the zeal with which they share their problematic views–to drive its taxis. The cool news is that the most common black taxi in London is now the all-electric TX, representing 40% of the total fleet.

“We are witnessing a significant tipping point in the push towards cleaner transportation, with the TX overtaking the diesel-powered TX4 as the cab of choice in London. There are now more than 6,000 TX electric taxis operating in the capital, accounting for over 40% of the black cab fleet.

“Since LEVC launched the revolutionary TX taxi, it has successfully delivered an unrivalled sustainable mobility solution, perfectly suited for urban environments. With each new TX on the road, we are preventing thousands of tonnes of harmful emissions, helping to create healthier and happier cities.”

My guess is that the rest are gas-powered. This news comes as the London Electric Vehicle Company, which makes the taxis, considers making regular passenger vehicles.

Rivian To Investors: Money Please!

Electric carmaker Rivian’s latest call with investors didn’t go well and, unsurprisingly, they’re asking for more money. Here’s the unintentionally funny headline from Bloomberg about the move:

“Rivian Drops on Plan to Offer $1.3 Billion in Green Convertibles”

I’d love a Shelby Dodge Dakota Convertible-style Rivian R1T, but that’s not what’s going on here.

Rivian Automotive Inc. is seeking to raise $1.3 billion through the sale of green convertible bonds due in 2029. Shares fell in extended trading.

The electric-vehicle maker intends to use the proceeds from the offering to finance, refinance or invest in current and future green projects which are eligible, the company said in a statement Monday. Rivian plans to settle conversions through Class A common stock or a combination of cash and stock, the company said.

This is not great if you’re a current shareholder as it could lead to a dilution of your shares. In early trading this morning the stock was down to $15.50 per share, down from over $40 a share just a year ago.

What Was Your Best Rule Interpretation?

Let’s have fun here. This doesn’t need to be strictly car-related, but what’s the best example of interpreting the rules in your favor?

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