Skip to main content

Startup inks ‘world’s largest deal’ for driverless grocery deliveries

udelv Vehicle

Whether or not your grocery delivery arrives in a van with a driver behind the wheel may not matter much to you, but an increasing number of companies are nevertheless investing heavily in autonomous delivery vehicles in the belief that they’ll improve efficiency and create significant cost benefits in the long term. Yes, you’ll have to wait and see if those savings will be passed on to you, the customer.

Udelv, a San Francisco-based startup that has already used its autonomous vans to make more than 700 driverless deliveries in the San Francisco Bay area, recently inked what it claims is the world’s largest deal for a grocery delivery service using self-driving vehicles.

The service is set to begin in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma next year, and will use 10 autonomous vans to transport orders to customers from local supermarkets that include Buy For Less, Uptown Grocery, and Smart Saver.

Similar to other trials for self-driving delivery services, the electric vans will operate with safety drivers until both Udelv, and regulators deem them fit for fully driverless operation.

“The vehicles will eventually cover thousands of miles of residential roads in what will be one of the largest autonomous driving deployments in the world,” Udelv said in a release.

Udelv’s van, which has a top speed of 25 mph and a range of around 60 miles, is capable of Level 4 autonomy, meaning it can operate in most scenarios with little to no human intervention.

The vehicle contains 18 compartments for storing customer orders. When the van arrives at a delivery address, the customer receives a notification on their smartphone. They can then meet the van and access their order by tapping in a code to unlock the compartment that contains their items.

News of Udelv’s deal comes soon after another California-based startup, Nuro, launched a driverless delivery service — albeit on a very small scale — in Arizona in partnership with supermarket chain Kroger. Like Udelv, Nuro also has a purpose-built autonomous vehicle, but for its trial service it’s using self-driving Prius cars until final testing and certification of its own vehicle is complete.

But it’s not clear how such services will benefit those who may find it difficult to move their shopping from the van to their home, such as senior citizens or those with particular disabilities. Until these companies add a box-carrying robot to their vans, some delivery runs will have to continue operating with a human to carry the order into homes.

Autonomous vehicle technology is developing fast, though it’s likely to be some time before you have a chance of purchasing your very own fully driverless car. Instead, the industry is looking to exploit platforms that indicate a more measured rollout of the technology. These include self-driving taxi and shuttle services, as well as delivery services using driverless vehicles.

Editors' Recommendations

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
Cruise autonomous vehicle drives over woman just after she was hit by another car
A Cruise autonomous car.

An autonomous vehicle (AV) operated by Cruise ran over a pedestrian in San Francisco on Monday night just after she’d been hit by another car, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

According to witnesses, the force of the initial impact knocked the woman into the path of the Cruise robotaxi, leaving her pinned under one of its wheels. The driver in the other car reportedly fled the scene.

Read more
Cruise says it’s nearing approval for mass production of futuristic robotaxi
Interior of Cruise's Origin vehicle.

Robotaxi company Cruise is “just days away” from getting regulatory approval that would pave the way for mass production of its purpose-built driverless vehicle, CEO Kyle Vogt said on Thursday in comments reported by the Detroit Free Press.

General Motors-backed Cruise unveiled the vehicle -- called Origin -- in early 2020, presenting the kind of driverless car that we all dreamed of when R&D in the sector kicked off years ago; a vehicle without a steering wheel and without pedals. A vehicle with passenger seats only.

Read more
Robotaxi firm Cruise ordered to halve fleet following incidents
A Cruise autonomous car.

Autonomous car company Cruise has been told by regulators to halve its robotaxi fleet in San Francisco following a crash with a fire truck on Thursday in which the driverless car's passenger suffered minor injuries.

The regulator -- the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) -- said that it’s looking into “recent concerning incidents” involving self-driving Cruise cars operating on the city’s public roads.

Read more