Driverless Car To Deliver Your Grocery Order

Harin - Dec 21, 2018

It this fast-paced digital age, rather than going out, having an autonomous car delivering your grocery seems to be cooler and more futuristic.

It this fast-paced digital age, rather than going out and buying your grocery, it will be more convenient when you do your grocery shopping online or make a simple call to your local stores. Whatever your option is, the next thing you know is a driver arriving at your house with your grocery. That may seem to be convenient, but it isn’t as trendy as having an autonomous car bringing you your grocery.

Kroger, a grocery store giant based in the US, has just made an announcement on its partnership with Nuro, a startup specialized in self-driving car. With this partnership, Kroger is now offering its customers with something cooler and more futuristic, driverless delivery service.

R1, the company’s unmanned vehicle will now in charge of delivering grocery order from Kroger. The company has designed this vehicle to be more compact than normal passenger cars. The R1 has also been well-designed to be convenient in loading as well as unloading the groceries.

Previously, Kroger carried out its delivery service with Toyota Prius autonomous car. However, there were safety drivers sitting inside the car as it is the states’ regulation for autonomous vehicles to have safety drivers inside. The service was offered in Scottsdale, Arizona, in partnership with Nuro.

Human control will still be used for the R1. Nuro employees will remotely control the vehicle when needed. This autonomous delivery services cost customers $5.95 extra and they still have to collect their orders at the roadside.

Kroger is not the only provider for this kind of services. Another food deliver startup, Postmates has also initiated its own driverless delivery services. Vehicles which move along the sidewalk will be used to deliver orders.

Will this service be available in India? Not likely. Firstly, Indian roads are not really where an autonomous with groceries could roam around. Secondly, the option of having driver arriving at your doorstep with your grocery is still pretty convenient. So for the time being, let us just pass on this idea and view it as a cool but not really viable in India.