| | | The Zoox vehicle makes its way through the suburbs with ease, politely waiting its turn at four-way stops and giving cyclists plenty of room. When a black delivery truck unexpectedly whips across two lanes of traffic, the Highlander stops and avoids a collision. A few minutes later, we get on the freeway, and the Toyota merges in a manner that could be described as ultra-safe mode. Instead of jamming the accelerator to outrun oncoming traffic, it hugs the edge of the on-ramp as it waits for an opening.
It’s in the city, though, where Zoox really shines. The screens inside the vehicle show an overwhelming amount of information, as the computer vision software keeps tracks of cars, people, stoplights, and road markers all at the same time. Unlike many self-driving cars, it glides to stops. At an intersection with a left turn, it allows oncoming traffic to pass and then waits for some slow pedestrians. Overall, the vehicle performs so well that you forget no one is driving.
bloomberg.com |
|
