Uber Eats to launch a totally autonomous supply expertise (in a single main market)

Uber Eats is popping to autonomous automobiles in a serious market. Together with AV companion Motional, the third-party supply platform will likely be launching a brand new autonomous supply expertise in Santa Monica, California.

Deliveries will likely be carried out in Motional’s IONIQ 5 automobiles, that are able to working autonomously. Taking part eating places deliver packaged orders to the curb and place them inside a locking compartment. As soon as the automotive arrives at its vacation spot the client is notified and retrieves the order from the automotive. 

Uber Eats and Motional have been engaged on the assorted buyer touchpoints for months with an eye fixed towards a seamless rollout.

“At Uber, we’re all the time in search of methods to make use of new expertise to assist customers go anyplace and get something,” stated Noah Zych, World GM for Uber’s Autonomous Mobility and Supply enterprise. “We’re thrilled to start piloting with Motional in California and are wanting to see how their promising autonomous expertise will start to vary how individuals and items transfer all through the world for the higher.”

Conspicuous within the new testbed is the absence of drivers. Uber and its drivers have lengthy had a tense relationship. Autonomous car expertise appears primed to allow Uber to maneuver ahead with out these drivers earlier than lengthy.

The partnership is comparatively new, which makes the rollout all of the extra spectacular. Motional and Uber introduced their partnership in December of final yr. That is the primary on-road autonomous car (AV) pilot on the Uber Eats community, which makes it an necessary milestone for the expertise on the whole. Uber Eats controls an estimated 24% of the meals supply market, making its adoption of any new expertise extremely influential.

Motional’s automobiles have been piloted in passenger conveyance however the transfer to meals supply represents a pivot. The Motional IONIQ 5 automobiles used within the service have been tailored to allow autonomous deliveries. The brand new service will enable Motional and Uber to check client response and expertise integration. Uber clearly has long-term designs on AVs throughout its platform.