The Zoox robotaxi upgrades announced this week are, by design, the kind of thing most passengers will only notice once they stop noticing them. Amazon’s autonomous vehicle subsidiary has refreshed the interior and exterior of its custom-built robotaxi ahead of a hoped-for commercial service launch later this year, with changes ranging from ergonomic seat padding to enlarged cupholders. There is, as ever, a rather large regulatory asterisk attached to that timeline.
What’s Changed Inside and Out
The fundamentals remain intact. The cube-shaped vehicle still has no steering wheel, still drives bidirectionally with four-wheel steering, carries four passengers, and can reach speeds of up to 75 miles per hour. The 40 cameras, radars, lidars, and infrared sensors stay, as do the moonroof and the starry night interior lighting.
Where Zoox has focused its attention is on the thousand small irritations that accumulate when you are ferrying strangers all day. Seats and headrests have been given more padding and ergonomic curves. The colour palette shifts to aloe-green seating with stone-grey flooring and trim, a lighter combination Zoox says creates a calmer environment and makes it easier to spot everyday objects like smartphones against the backdrop.
Practical touches include fluting on the charging pad to stop phones sliding off, bigger cupholders, and a more visible touchscreen. On the outside, the bidirectional reflectors have been repositioned for better visibility, and a new speaker and microphone have been added to the door interface, enabling two-way audio between the vehicle and riders, road users, Zoox Support staff, and first responders.
Chris Stoffel, director of robot industrial design and studio engineering at Zoox, described the intent as an interior that ‘doesn’t demand a rider’s attention like so many of the features found in today’s passenger cars.’ In a statement, he said: ‘The updates we’ve made to this iteration of our purpose-built robotaxi continue to further distinguish the Zoox experience from anything else available today.’
The redesign is also preparation for volume. Zoox opened a production facility in Hayward, California, last year, which ABC7 San Francisco reports employs about 100 technicians and includes an on-site test range. The company says the facility can produce up to 100 vehicles a week, with an eventual annual capacity of 10,000 robotaxis.
The Zoox Robotaxi Upgrades Won’t Matter Without NHTSA Approval
Here is where the makeover narrative gets complicated. Zoox cannot legally charge for rides until it clears a regulatory hurdle that has nothing to do with cupholders.
Because the vehicle lacks the standard controls mandated under federal law, Zoox filed a petition with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on 22 August 2025, seeking relief from requirements across eight Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. The petition, logged as Docket No. NHTSA-2025-0523, covers the company’s ADS-equipped passenger car.
NHTSA published a Federal Register notice on 11 March 2026 confirming receipt of the petition and opening a public comment period, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. The agency will subsequently publish a notice setting out its reasoning for granting or denying the petition. That decision is still pending.
What Zoox does have in hand is a demonstration exemption, granted in August 2025, which allowed it to put the vehicles on public roads. NHTSA described that exemption as the first ever issued for American-built vehicles under its expanded Automated Vehicle Exemption Programme, a scheme broadened in April 2025 under Secretary Duffy’s Innovation Agenda to include domestically produced vehicles. A demonstration exemption and a commercial exemption, though, are different things.
Amazon acquired Zoox for $1.3 billion in 2020, and the company began testing on public roads in 2023, according to CNBC. Free rides are currently available in Austin, San Francisco, Las Vegas, and Miami. Paid rides follow only if NHTSA says yes.
The refreshed interior is a credible signal that Zoox is genuinely preparing for scale, not just refreshing its press materials. Whether the regulatory calendar cooperates with the production calendar is the question the new cupholders cannot answer.
