In wake of federal scrutiny, Zoox details process it used for self-certifying its robotaxi

Certification is a moment Zoox has anticipated for a long time. Since its founding in 2014, its engineers have crafted its bidirectional electric vehicle with both innovation and the federal motor vehicle safety standards in mind, particularly those that address occupant protection and crash mitigation.

Zoox said Wednesday it conducted at least six crash tests that included a frontal crash, offset, angled and side-moving barrier test that addressed sections 208 and 214 of the federal requirements. Further, it conducted a high-speed rear impact test outlined in section 305 that sets standards for high-voltage powertrains.

Zoox utilized a third-party facility for the tests but declined to say where they were conducted. The vehicle met or exceeded applicable performance requirements, according to Christopher Nalevanko, general counsel at Zoox.

Testing permitted Zoox to vet its unique horseshoe-shaped airbag design. With no dashboard to serve as a springboard, Zoox engineers airbags that surround the passenger cabin, similar to conventional side-curtain airbags.

But they simultaneously deploy in a way that addresses frontal crashes and maintains separation between occupants and mitigates certain types of injuries. The two-in-one design is unprecedented in the industry, said Prescott, who worked as a compliance engineer at NHTSA between 2002 and 2006.

“That’s one of the really cool innovations that we’ve done to enable our carriage seating design and provide an equivalent level of safety for everybody in the car,” she said.

Equivalent safety for all occupants itself is a safety innovation, she argued. Federal requirements set more stringent standards for protecting front-row occupants. But in the Zoox vehicle, “everybody gets the same stuff,” Prescott said.

Another aspect of the vehicle designed with crash-test standards in mind include the crumple zones, which dissipate crash energy before it reaches the passenger cabin. Little space existed for crumple zones on a bidirectional vehicle designed with tight turns in mind.

Zoox expended further efforts to ensure its doors stay closed in the event of a crash to prevent ejections and coupled that with the ability for remote customer-assistance operators to communicate with passengers and unlock doors in the event of an emergency.

Overall, the safety innovations and design are “driving toward all the good things that come beyond [Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards],” Prescott said. “The way I like to think of it is the [federal safety standards] gives us the foundation on which to build.”