California startup udelv has taken the wraps off its
autonomous last-mile delivery vehicle. Designed to dramatically reduce the cost
of local deliveries, the odd looking van features 18 secure storage
compartments with automatic doors. When the delivery vehicle arrives at a
customer’s house or workplace, they simply unlock their storage compartment
with a smartphone app and then remove their packages. Once the packages have
been unloaded, the van continues on its route.
udelv says the delivery vehicle has an electric
powertrain that enables it to travel up to 96 km on a single charge.
That’s not very far but the van can hold up to 317 kg of cargo. As
part of the vehicle’s unveiling, udelv made the first public deliveries to two
customers in San Mateo. The company said the truck traveled in a 4
km loop and preformed “flawlessly.”
The test was the first of many as udelv plans to
have dozens of test vehicles on the road “within a short timeframe.” In
California, the tests will be supervised by a safety driver but udelv has plans
for a teleoperations system which will allow owners to control the vehicle
remotely.
udelv plans to offer the van as a part of a
subscription service and the company is accepting reservations for as little as Us$ 2,000. udelv isn’t the only company is the autonomous delivery game as The
Verge reports two former Google employees have teamed up to create a company
called Nuro. Its R1 prototype is also focused on last-mile deliveries but it is
less accommodating than udelv’s vehicle as the prototype only has four storage
compartments.
