SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Self-driving tech startup Nuro stated on Wednesday it was rolling out California’s first industrial autonomous supply service in partnership with 7-Eleven, a comfort retailer operator.
Nuro and rivals comparable to Waymo are launching or planning to launch autonomous supply companies with regulatory approval in the US, although the companies are restricted or not within the type of driverless autos.
The service will begin with Toyota Priuses transformed into autonomous autos and embrace a security driver to watch the expertise, Nuro stated.
“The Priuses are step one in Nuro’s multi-phase method to introducing industrial autonomous supply to pick service areas,” Nuro stated in an announcement, including that the corporate and 7-Eleven will make the joint choice to introduce Nuro’s R2 driverless autos “as quickly as potential.”
The service might be out there to clients in Mountain View the place Nuro is headquartered. It’s already delivering Domino’s Pizza merchandise in Houston, Texas, utilizing its Prius and R2 autos, Nuro stated.
7-Eleven is a unit of Japan’s Seven & I Holdings Co.
Nuro was the primary autonomous car startup to get a allow to make use of automated autos for enterprise from the California Division of Motor Autos final yr in December. Two different firms, Cruise and Waymo, obtained their permits in September.
Nuro stated earlier this month that it raised $600 million and introduced on Alphabet Inc’s Google as an investor.
Alphabet’s self-driving unit Waymo will ship groceries ordered from one of many Safeway shops in San Francisco, utilizing its automated autos, Tekedra Mawakana, co-CEO of Waymo, advised a Forbes occasion on Tuesday.
Waymo stated the service will begin in early 2022 and might be out there to pick Waymo and Safeway workers earlier than being launched to extra clients.
Waymo, which plans to make use of Jaguar I-PACES automated autos with security drivers, stated this marks the primary autonomous grocery supply expertise in San Francisco.
(Reporting by Jane Lanhee Lee,; Hyunjoo Jin and Paresh Dave; Modifying by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
