US autonomous mobility startup Zoox has named Aicha Evans as its new CEO as part of its strategy to accelerate the work on launching a self-driving ride-hailing service.

Evans has served as senior vice-president and chief strategy officer at chip-maker Intel. She will also become a member of Zoox’s board of directors effective 26 February.

Evans worked for 12 years at Intel, where she most recently served as the chief strategy officer and managed the company’s transformation from a PC-centric organisation to a data-centric one.

Earlier, Evans acted as general manager of the Communication and Devices Group, where she was responsible for driving wireless engineering for multi-comm products and Intel platforms.

Evans said: “Mobility is approaching a major inflection point, and Zoox has set itself apart from entrenched players as the only company creating a solution purpose-built to meet the needs of a fully autonomous future.

“We believe now that the full realisation of autonomous mobility is a radical departure from last century’s car architecture, which requires a completely reimagined vehicle and AI solution.”

“I look forward to helping the company’s exceptionally talented team continue to grow as we unlock more technical and commercial milestones.”

Zoox co-founder, CTO, and president Jesse Levinson said: “We believe now more than ever that the full realisation of autonomous mobility is a radical departure from last century’s car architecture, and that requires a completely reimagined vehicle and AI solution.

“I’m excited to partner with Aicha as we forge our own path and show the world what the next generation of mobility looks like.”

Currently, Zoox is setting up a fleet of fully autonomous, battery electric, zero-emission vehicles that are purpose-built and optimised for ridesharing in cities.

In December 2018, Zoox secured a licence from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to participate in the state’s Autonomous Vehicle Passenger Service pilot programme.

The permit will enable Zoox to carry passengers in its self-driving cars, provided a human safety driver is in the vehicle at all times.