Robotaxi maker Zoox announced a new 220,000-square-foot production plant in Hayward, California, ahead of the company’s official public launch in Las Vegas later this year and in San Francisco next year.

The Foster City-based company hopes the new plant will be making 10,000 of Zoox’s all-electric, fully autonomous vehicles per year by 2027.

Zoox is currently producing one robotaxi per day but hopes to expand into producing three vehicles per hour by 2026.

After being acquired by Amazon in 2020, Zoox prepared to compete in the robotaxi space with Google’s Waymo, which offers the world’s first publicly available autonomous ride-hailing service, Waymo One.

The Hayward plant is key for Zoox to begin competing with Waymo, which already transitioned to an all-electric fleet in 2023 before opening up its service to all members of the public in San Francisco and Los Angeles in 2024.

Since first opening to the public in Phoenix in 2020, Waymo stated on X that it has served over 10 million paid rides.

Despite Waymo’s head start, Zoox believes its self-produced vehicles, designed for riders, set its service apart.

Each of the unique, toaster-shaped robotaxis can serve as a workspace, a nightclub, and more, according to the company’s website. Riders enter the carriage seating through clear sliding doors and have access to music, climate controls, Wi-Fi, and other features to tailor their ride experience.

Waymo doesn’t have its own in-house cars; instead, it currently uses Jaguar I-PACE vehicles. In this way, Waymo offers more of a typical ride-hailing experience compared to what Zoox is promising.

Besides Zoox and Waymo, Tesla is also planning to launch its own robotaxi service to the public. CEO Elon Musk has set a tentative date for a debut in Austin that could be as soon as June 22, according to a post on X.

Tesla isn’t the only robotaxi trying to operate in Texas. Waymo currently offers ride-hailing services to the public in parts of Austin, though only through the Uber app.

Additionally, in 2024, Zoox announced plans to begin testing its modified Toyota Highlanders in Texas, but the company’s focus remains on publicly launching in San Francisco and Las Vegas.

In 2024, Zoox began deploying robotaxis in San Francisco and Las Vegas for testing as the company moves toward offering its first rides to the public.

On May 28, Zoox announced a partnership with Resorts World Las Vegas, bringing the Zoox robotaxi to the resort’s property.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.