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 60 miles (96 km) on a single charge. That’s not very far but the van can hold up to 700 pounds (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 2.5 mile (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 $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.
