Are AVs the future for food delivery?
Uber Eats Santa Monica delivery is about to change. Motional and Uber Eats have started their automated delivery service. In December, the two companies announced a partnership.
Motional and Uber will be able to jointly study the technology through this pilot program. They will also study how the autonomous vehicle interacts with consumers.
Delivery service alerts the restaurant when the AV arrives to the pick-up point. The backseat compartment is specially designed for food. The AV alerts the customer when it arrives at the drop-off point. They can then unlock the vehicle using the Uber Eats app to collect their order.
Motional, a joint venture of Aptiv and Hyundai uses Hyundai Iniq 5 electric vehicles for its delivery vehicles. The company modified the vehicle for AV service. Although the company is familiar with moving passengers, Motional’s automated food delivery service marks its first foray into commercial deliveries. Uber Eats is the first company to partner with an autonomous vehicle company for delivery.
Motional spent many months researching every aspect of the end to end delivery experience in preparation for the pilot program. Motional conducted extensive testing in Los Angeles to ensure that the service was safe, efficient, reliable, and reliable. As we have seen, computers are not always prepared for real-world situations.
Motional’s CEO Abe Ghabra said that the pilot program is “the next phase” in the company’s commercial strategy. They will take the feedback from this pilot program and shape it to scale quickly, expanding into other areas of Los Angeles. Motional views this as the foundation for future commercial activities with Uber.
Although autonomous vehicles could revolutionize society, it is still many years away. Motional and other companies are working together with Tesla, General Motors, General Motors, etc. to perfect this new technology. Robotaxis and delivery services are only the beginning. However, they’re an important first step that will need some human support for the foreseeable future.