I drove autonomous cars from Google and Amazon. Fear is the last feeling

Waymo driving experience

In the case of Waymo, the application works in a similar way to those operating in Poland – with the difference that the vehicle has its own pickup points, which means that it will not always arrive at the precisely indicated address. In principle, however, there is no problem with this.

The driving experience itself is surprising. Just press the button and hit the road. Turning the steering wheel despite the empty driver's seat is undoubtedly a futuristic experience. Merging into traffic, avoiding obstacles, giving way – Waymo had no problem with this during the course.

It is also difficult to have any reservations about driving comfort. The screen available at hand allowed you to adjust the music or temperature in the vehicle. Just a more modern taxi, which can also be found on the streets of Warsaw.

Cons? Lack of habit

“Weren't you afraid?” This question was asked surprisingly often by my friends in the context of Waymo driving. To tell you the truth, fear is probably the last feeling that could accompany me. Unless it was fear of not getting somewhere on time.

The ride itself was smooth, although I think if I were to ride Waymo every day, I might find the service irritating. The Google vehicle started driving only when it was absolutely sure that no one was driving on the privileged road. He stopped as soon as he “saw” a pedestrian at the crosswalk, even if he was clearly not interested in crossing the street (he was only talking on the phone, for example). Evidently, the engineers were aware that any aggressive behavior of the “invisible driver” could ruin the future of the project.

If I had to find any discomfort with Waymo anywhere it's probably on the other sidee – as a pedestrian, I felt strange seeing a driverless car full of lidars and cameras waiting for me to pass. Although this is probably simply the result of my lack of habituation to a completely unfamiliar situation on European streets. Road incidents related to autonomous vehicles occur occasionally – Recently, a child was hit near an elementary school in Santa Monica, California. A recording of Waymo driving into… the center of a police raid has become quite popular on the Internet.

As for the price of the service, it is difficult to say that the lack of a driver translates into extremely attractive opportunities – the cost of travel ranges from several to several dozen dollars. seems to be quite close to standard platforms.

Bezos and Amazon are getting into the game

Waymo just got an autonomous rival in San Francisco. Zoox vehicles from Amazon are also now driving on the streets of the “Golden Gate City”. However, I personally had the opportunity to try out the vehicle from Jeff Bezos' company in Las Vegas. Nevada's largest city is the second location where California-made vehicles are available.

The rest of the article below the video:

Something other than a car

Amazon acquired Zoox in 2020 for $1.2 billion. and included it in their digital portfolio. In this case, there is no driver or even a traditional vehicle interior. This is a deliberate strategy – when other players adapt existing car models (Waymo uses Jaguar I-PACE), After a phase of various tests, Zoox adopted a strategy of designing a vehicle from scratch.

The difference is visible at first glance – the company emphasizes that their futuristic-looking autonomous taxi is not even a car. The interior consists of two pairs of opposing seats, no driver's seat, or front passenger seat. The sliding doors look more like entering a bus than a car. The most important fact, however, is that Zoox actually has no front or rear – it is designed so that it can change direction at any time if the situation requires it.

Like Waymo, Zoox allows you to control sounds and air conditioning. The vehicles are also equipped with USB sockets and inductive chargers. The ride itself went smoothly and without any problems – although it should be noted that Zoox in Vegas, compared to Waymo in San Francisco, is in the initial testing phase and serves only a few locations. Therefore, it is difficult to consider it a practical solution now. Another problem for tourists may be the fact that the application is not available in Europe. This means that you need to change your location in the settings of the marketplace from which you download the application.

On the other hand, Zoox does not charge any fees for the service during its testing phase. You can drive it completely for free, but it is known that it will not last forever – the company is already working on commercializing the service (for now it is working for research purposes). The small number of vehicles makes it difficult – I had to wait 45 minutes for a return taxi. I could have just as easily covered the indicated distance on foot during this time.

Currently, Zoox has approximately 50 vehicles, which will soon be tested on expressways. With Waymo, it's still a project in its early stages. The Google brand has a fleet of over 2,000. cars.

Autonomy is knocking on Europe

While autonomous vehicles can be tested in selected US cities (apart from San Francisco or Las Vegas, this includes Phoenix and Seattle), they are still the sound of the future in Europe. This year, however, this is about to change.

Grzegorz Kowalczyk, journalist of Business Insider Polska