The first thing anyone should know about Zoox is that it’s not a car—it’s a factory-built robotaxi. The company’s serial production facility is located in Hayward, off of Highway 92 on Clawiter Road.
Amazon-owned Zoox announced its new Hayward location in a June 18 press release. This is Zoox’s second manufacturing plant; the first is in Fremont. The Hayward factory is 220,000 square feet, equal to three and a half football fields. A public notice from the city said council members had a chance to tour the Zoox factory on Aug. 26.
Zoox said in its press release that the facility will eventually have the capacity to build more than 10,000 robotaxis a year. Their robotaxis come with “subway-style” doors on both sides of what looks like a movable cart on wheels. Inside the “cabin” is bench seating and a panel on the side that controls the temperature and plays music.
Hayward chief economic development officer Paul Nguyen said getting Zoox to come to the city is a story in which the stars just aligned. “I think they saw the competitive advantage that Hayward offers. We’re conveniently located, the heart of the Bay,” he said.
Nguyen said Gillig bus company had been building buses in Hayward for more than 50 years until the company left and moved to Livermore. Development company Hines bought the property and got permission from the city to build an industrial park.
After that, Nguyen and the rest of Hayward’s Economic Development team got to work to attract businesses to the industrial park. One of the companies that approached Hayward is Zoox.
“I think it’s wonderful, Zoox’s investment in Hayward,” Nguyen said. “Particularly in this growing segment of technology, which incorporates advanced manufacturing, AI and robotics, is a great testament to the evolution of Hayward’s industrial district.”
On Sept. 10, Zoox offered rides to a customer base for the first time in Las Vegas for free. Just like any ride hailing service, people just have to download the app and request a ride. Rides will be offered in San Francisco soon—there’s even a waitlist on the app for people who can’t wait to get inside a Zoox robotaxi.
As for seeing Zoox robotaxis in Hayward, Nguyen said it’s not necessarily in the cards right now. He explained it’s up to Zoox to decide where it wants to deploy the robotaxis.
