Who will win the battle between Cruise Origin by GM and Zoox by Amazon? It is a head-on-head rivalry in AV 5 level segment. The look is the same and the interior seating arrangement also except for the size of the vehicle.
As per the reports by market experts, the robotaxi is not going to make a mark in the ride-hailing services due to the familiarity of the existing way of commuting as well as dependency and economical for the consumer with smartphone applications in Uber, Lyft, Moovit, GoogleMaps, etc.
The autonomous vehicle has been categorized in three scenarios but, robotaxis are excluded:-
- Fixed routes path with low-speed shuttle such as Beep, May mobility.
- Commercial fleet vehicle highway applications such as TuSimple, and Einride.
- Enhanced adaptive cruise control with lane-keeping for highway purposes such as GM Super Cruise and Tesla Autopilot.
But don’t you think the challenge and the criticism were the same for the e-commerce platform? The trust issue in product delivery and the quality have always been a concern. But if you see the trend, the pandemic situation boosted the e-commerce platform with less interaction and getting your needs met.
As stated by Zig Ziglar, “Don’t be distracted by criticism. Remember, the only taste of success some people have is when they take a bite out of you.”
I feel the Robotaxi players should focus on how to launch the vehicle and get the permits. The launch of Zoox and Cruise origin is not just about the two-vehicle. But it is also about the technology and the features provided to assist the journey in a driverless vehicle.
It is also key to observe whether a new player like Amazon in the automotive market can create a niche without any partnership while competing with one of the key OEMs in the automotive market. After all, Amazon is about driving the customer traffic to its e-commerce platform to sell its product. Will it be able to do the same stuff with Zoox?
The head-on-rivalry also shows the customer preference that what exactly they are looking for in a driverless vehicle on a long journey or with strangers. It will be a pure delight to know the customer preferences as we experience the same battle with UBER and OLA.
Even though both are equally available in the market, the dominance is different as per the geographical location.
So, let’s compare the features:-
| Features | Cruise Origin | Zoox |
| Doors | Slide, wide opening | Sliding, wide opening |
| Bidirectional | No | Yes, four-wheel steering |
| Flat floor | Yes | Yes |
| No.of seats | 6 | 4 |
| No.of screens | 2 | 4 |
| Powertrain | Rear-wheel drive | Dual motor, AWD, Four-wheel steering |
| Top speed | Handle highway speed | 75 mph |
| AV miles are driven (2020) | 67,000 miles | 155,125 miles |
| Disengagement rate per 1,000 miles | No information | 20 |
Cruise origin got a hand over the pricing by providing 1million miles of the drive. But still, a lot of details are missing and are still not available to the public. If you compare, I would choose Cruise Origin for long family journeys.
But, Zoox is technically advanced with impressive bidirectional features with four-wheel steering. And that’s way safer to tackle the nitty-gritty stuff on the road. They are both electrically driven. The design is new and unique providing a lifetime of experiencing a rider’s journey than a driver’s journey.
If the vehicle is completely booked you get the complete privacy of driving around the city or going long distances. It also provides self-sufficiency to enjoy some independence and isolate yourself from hustles. However, the cost is something everybody is eyeing for.
Can it be rented for private events? Can it be rented for more than 1 day’s journey? But all we have to do is wait for the products to be launched for the consumer.
