Amazon (AMZN)-backed self-driving unit Zoox has stepped on the production gas by sealing a battery supply deal with Japanese giant Panasonic.
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Panasonic Energy will supply cylindrical batteries to Zoox from early next year under a multi-year agreement. “Panasonic Energy will deliver its latest 2170 batteries beginning in early 2026 to support Zoox’s growing robotaxi service and operations,” the company said in a statement.
The cells will initially come from Japan, with plans to expand to Panasonic Energy’s Kansas plant, it added. The company also supplies Zoox rival Tesla (TSLA).
Earlier this month Zoox launched its self-driving taxi service in San Francisco offering free rides for early users. This followed a similar launch on and around the Las Vegas Strip back in September.
At the time the company said: “Rides are free and available through the Zoox app, which can be downloaded on both iOS and Android devices. Zoox is now the first company in history to provide a fully autonomous ride-hailing service in a purpose-built robotaxi.”
All in the Design
Indeed, Zoox vehicles stand out from the pack as unlike Google’s (GOOGL) Waymo and Tesla’s Robotaxi they have been designed from scratch to be fully driverless.
There are no steering wheels or pedals inside. Instead, passengers sit on benches facing each other.
Whatever the design, the robotaxi sector is becoming increasingly congested. Waymo already has millions of self-driving miles logged and is expanding from San Francisco and Los Angeles to cities like Austin, Atlanta, and Miami. Tesla’s robotaxi is running in Austin and testing in Arizona. In addition, Uber (UBER) has a partnership with Lucid (LCID) Motors and autonomous tech company Nuro in July to launch a fleet of Lucid EVs.
China’s WeRide (WRD) also recently said that it planned to rev up the commercialization of autonomous taxis and expand into new markets including the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Japan.
The global robotaxi market by value is estimated to be worth around $0.4 billion and is projected to reach $45.7 billion by 2030. That’s a lot of driverless road to reach for and a potential further revenue diversification for Amazon to enjoy – see above.
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