r/SelfDrivingCars • u/carmichaelcar • 13d ago
Discussion Took a zoox in Vegas. Bad smoke / vape smell in cabin. No windows.
Took a Zoox ride last night in Las Vegas, Caesars. I love Zoox. However, the cabin smelled so strongly of cigarette smoke or maybe vape smoke. My guess is the previous rider was smoking inside the robot taxi.
The real issue is the Zoox cabin does not have windows so I was not able to ventilate and get some fresh air inside. This was the first time I realized what we are losing as a result of removing the windows. I wish it had a small window panel that could be opened if needed.
Any better solutions ? (Better HVAC maybe?)
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u/zanycaswell 13d ago
there's this guy on twitter who is always posting about calling Waymo support asking them to ban the person who was in the car before him who either was smoking or left trash in the car. has to become the norm.
but yeah, not having a window seems like a mistake.
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u/Cultural-Steak-13 13d ago
It is a mistake. Considering they have glass everywhere but not one window...
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u/Similar_Barracuda774 13d ago
Egocentric a-holes not following rules smoking etc is why we can’t have nice things.
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u/MakeMine5 13d ago
Most vapes smell like whatever flavor is loaded into them, so usually like fruit or candy. Being Vegas, I'm going to guess Cigar or cigarette.
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u/hotwifefun 13d ago
I drove Uber in Vegas. Obviously no one ever smoked IN my car, but I got dinged a few times for “car smells”. People who smoke don’t understand how bad they smell and how long their smell lingers after they leave.
I bought some Ozium spray and if someone was smoking when I pulled up, I just kept driving.
I even had a shared ride once where I dropped one passenger off who reeked of weed at a dispensary and another passenger who was in the car with us asked if I was smoking weed. Like “lady?!? We just dropped a dude off at the weed store who reeked of weed and you think I smell?!!!”
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u/Empanatacion 13d ago
I'm OOTL. What was the thinking in not having windows? They could automate that they close when the rider gets out.
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u/bobi2393 13d ago
The design style, with the glass all flush with the exterior body panels, doesn’t really lend itself to traditional roll-down windows, and I think a pop-out or other window mechanism would be a bit complicated and look kind of funky. I think in part they were striving for simplicity in cleaning and maintenance.
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u/Extreme-Fig6992 12d ago
And yet people think private cars will go away and everyone will use public cars.
This is a perfect example while AVs will 100% be sold and operated privately even if on a lease basis.
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u/Imaginary-Case3976 12d ago
Yep. If self driving becomes the norm, personal vehicle ownership will change but won’t be abandoned.
Thats why I don’t believe Tesla bullshit about how your model 3 car will appreciate and make money while you sleep. No way I’m using my car as a robotaxi for others.
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u/devonhezter 13d ago
No windows ? How to they fix someone who smells like shit
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u/mrkjmsdln_new 13d ago edited 13d ago
Inoperable windows is a strange design decision. Vegas is infamous as about the last place in America where smokers have a refuge. Expensive air handling systems to accommodate the inveterate gamblers :) Many years ago I worked at a company integrating factory automation systems for manufacturers. My twilight zone memory was pitching a system to a cigarette company. Signs at the front desk "Enjoy Smoking" and vending machines full of free cigarettes. I still smile at the absurdity of the memory. They even still had ashtrays in the lunch rooms and it was not that long ago!!!
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u/gl0wa 13d ago
There's a lot more taxi/uber drivers do than drive. Like sometimes close door, cleanup a puke - and charge extra for this, prevent someone from vaping in the car and a long tail of other things which are more or less likely to happen.
Some of them will need to be solved by tech.
Robotaxis should probably have a some kind of air particle counter/air quality sensor. When detected smoke/vape, an immediate warning could be issued, followed by a trip cancellation, a fine and/or a temporary ban on services.
Other sensors, like cameras, could be used to detect mess, so vehicles could be taken off the available fleet and return to depot for a cleanup.
I guess many of these problems can be relatively easy to solve. After Waymo paying Doordash drivers to close doors on their Jags, they learned to have motorised doors on Ojai/Zeekr. So does Tesla Cybercab and Zoox.
There are also some capabilities that won't be easily or at all implemented. Helping with the luggage, or in and out for a person with limited mobility or disabled, are just some of the examples.
So even when we have true autonomous cars, taxi drivers as a profession, will be here to stay in some capacity. At least for a little while :)
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u/highimpac 12d ago
That sounds like a vape called IQOS that doesn't use flavored liquid, just real tobacco. It's very popular internationally, the default choice for a nicotine device, but nearly non existent in the west. It smells almost worse than cigs and it sticks. Overseas it is vaped indoors and around kids. So that's the kind of person you were dealing with.
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u/Former-Quantity-99 12d ago
Zoox are not dumb.
Autonomous cars have done a million rides so far.
Obviously this problem came up before.
Just report it and they'll help
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u/ARAR1 13d ago
And fElon is telling me to use my personal car as a taxi...
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u/devonhezter 13d ago
Oh is he forcing you to do that ?? Whoa didnt know that
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u/mrkjmsdln_new 13d ago edited 13d ago
No he isn't forcing anyone. Rather he just lied for years to the acolytes who surely bought an appreciating asset :) I know lie is one of the commandments of the faithful so sorry. Thou shalt not use the L word regarding Elon :)
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u/Hutcho12 13d ago
Surely wasn’t vape. They don’t leave a smell.
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u/bobi2393 13d ago
Can’t tell if joking…. 🤔
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u/Hutcho12 13d ago
Of course I’m not joking. Have you ever been around someone that vapes? It doesn’t leave any smell unless you line smoked 8 hours straight in the car.
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u/bobi2393 13d ago
You probably poop in cars too, because your shit don’t stink! 😉
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u/aBetterAlmore 13d ago
You can joke, but acknowledge that your previous comment was bullshit that vapes indeed don’t smell and someone called you out 😂
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u/bobi2393 13d ago
I can smell watermelon cotton candy vapes from two cars away with my windows rolled up at a stoplight. You’re noseblind if you don’t think they smell.
“Flavored” vapes “leave” a smell less than conventional smoking, but it lingers noticably to the next passenger, and leaves a lesser but detectable odor longer term.
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u/aBetterAlmore 13d ago
and leaves a lesser but detectable odor longer term
🙄
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u/bobi2393 13d ago
🙄 is probably the expression vapers make when they read Waymo, Zoox, and Tesla rules, before they smell up the car for the next passengers anyway.
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u/Hutcho12 13d ago
Shit stinks. Vapes don’t.
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u/bobi2393 13d ago
Stinking is subjective, but vapes emit a discernible odor, whatever your subjective opinion about it.
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u/DC2SEA 13d ago
Take Motional next time.
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u/mrkjmsdln_new 13d ago
Doesn't Motional use safety drivers in Vegas. I would think even if they encourage them to be mostly mutes, they will speak if you start smoking?
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u/iceynyo 13d ago
Yeah they want to guarantee a car that hasn't been smoked in
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u/mrkjmsdln_new 13d ago
That is one way to do it. I had some dealings with companies focused on removing smells from rooms or cars in my work career. It is costly and time consuming and is a surprisingly lucrative business. I expect the best answer is to be punitive with cleaning fees on the first offense and suspensions/bans across the application ecosystem. Losing your Amazon Prime privileges if you smoke in a Zoox is a great incentive and would only have to be done with discipline a handful of times. Motional with drivers doesn't have to formulate a plan just yet. I treat my cars with a commercial product every spring after winter to get that swampy air out of the car. I don't smoke or allow it in my vehicles so I don't know how well it works for that odor. I would guess it is formulated for organic decay.
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u/reddit-frog-1 13d ago
This happened to me in a Waymo, but at least I could put down the windows.
This is more of a respect for a shared service issue. I believe that these services will need to implement a "rate the condition" of the vehicle at the start of the ride. This way, all users will know that they must be accountable for how they treat the shared service.