- Waymo expands partnership with Uber Eats to offer driverless food delivery in Arizona.
- An autonomous Jaguar I-Pace may drive food from certain restaurants to customers within the zone in which it is allowed to test.
- Customers will have to go out to the vehicle to get their food, but won’t have to tip, and can opt out.
Starting today, hungry residents of Tempe, Mesa, and Chandler, Arizona, ordering food through the Uber Eats app may find their meals delivered by autonomous vehicles. This new service expansion is part of Uber’s ongoing partnership with Waymo.
In Phoenix, Uber users may already be familiar with being picked up by a Jaguar I-Pace equipped with Waymo’s autonomous technology. Now, their food deliveries might be handled the same way
Read: Uber To Offer Users Waymo Robotaxi Rides In Phoenix, Arizona
To begin, Uber Eats will initially dispatch the autonomous vehicle to a select few restaurants, such as Princess Pita, Filiberto’s, and BoSa Donuts. AZ Central reports that these restaurants were chosen because their delivery areas align with the regions where Waymo’s autonomous vehicles are permitted to operate.
While in its testing phase, the I-Pace is confined to specific operational zones. Additionally, even for those within these areas, there’s currently no option to specifically request delivery via the autonomous vehicle. However, customers always have the choice to opt out and have their food delivered conventionally to their doorstep
If you happen to order a meal that is delivered by the I-Pace, you’ll get a message when it shows up, and you will be able to use your smartphone to unlock the vehicle’s trunk, where the food will be stored. If a customer places an order and tips before their delivery is assigned to an autonomous vehicle, that tip will not be charged to the card.
Uber Eats claims that this pilot project has not been designed to automate food delivery, and take money away from delivery people. However, it stands to gain a lot of money if it no longer has to pay human drivers.
While the prospect of an empty autonomous vehicle using kilowatts of energy to get a single donut wrapped in plastic to a customer may sound like a recipe for waste and congestion, fear not. Nicole Gavel, the head of business development and strategic partnership, says that working with Uber and Uber Eats may help improve efficiency. She said that the vehicles may be able to string together deliveries and rideshare rides.
