Ford Motor has teamed up with retail giant Walmart to launch a pilot project for self-driving car delivery in Miami, USA.
For the next two months, Walmart customers will be able to use a delivery service provided by Ford's self-driving test vehicle after shopping for a variety of items online.
"Going home after a hard day's work, or going to the supermarket to buy groceries after a long day at home, can make people feel tired. However, Ford believes that the future of self-driving cars can help you reduce the burden and make travel more convenient. Delivering goods is easy and convenient, which is what our partnership with Walmart is all about," said Brian Wolf, director of business development for Ford's autonomous vehicle subsidiary.
Previously, Ford has cooperated with a number of companies in the United States to carry out commercial service pilot projects for autonomous vehicles, such as delivering pizza, flowers, dry cleaning, etc., and Postmates, an on-demand express delivery company in the United States, is one of Ford’s partners. .
Currently, Postmates is one of Walmart's delivery service providers, making Ford's partnership with Walmart even more natural. Previously, Walmart's delivery service has received good feedback from consumers. After a customer places an online order, a professionally trained buyer from Walmart will pick up the order item in a Walmart supermarket, and then deliver it to the customer quickly through Postmates and other express carriers. By the end of this year, more than 800 of Walmart's U.S. supermarkets will offer delivery, and that number is expected to double next year.
Over the next two months, Ford and Walmart will launch a pilot partnership with Walmart in Miami-Dade County, Florida, using Ford's self-driving test vehicles to deliver merchandise to Walmart customers by leveraging Postmates' existing delivery model. After a customer places an online order, Walmart's professional buyers will put their purchases in a test car. The test vehicle will deliver the goods according to the address provided by the customer, and the customer will take out the goods from the vehicle by himself. The whole process simulates the user experience of the driverless vehicle. For safety reasons, the test vehicle will be operated by Ford's safety operators.
The two companies will analyze customers' preferences for using self-driving vehicles to deliver goods, gain an in-depth understanding of the operating mechanism of retail goods delivery, evaluate the transport feasibility of specific goods, and find out what problems need to be solved in the process of self-driving vehicles providing delivery services.
Compared with restaurants and dry cleaners, the items ordered by supermarkets are usually larger in size and have more variety. Therefore, Ford will try to use different models of test vehicles and add special devices to meet the different needs of customers, especially for Fresh food or use scenarios that need to complete multiple deliveries in a single drive.
"Ford is committed to making life easier for consumers, where providing consumers with a simple and convenient user experience is paramount. We believe our partnership with Walmart will create greater opportunities for the future of autonomous vehicles, bringing consumers for a better shipping experience," added Brian Wolf.
In recent years, Ford has continued to carry out commercial service pilot projects for autonomous vehicles in the United States, and has completed more than 1,000 deliveries so far, covering Detroit, Pittsburgh, Miami, Washington, D.C., and is launching commercial services in the United States in 2021. fully prepared for fully autonomous vehicles.
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