Ford, Argo AI, Walmart Announce Autonomous Delivery Service
Photo: Ford
Ford Motor Company, subsidiary Argo AI, and Walmart are teaming up to make the future of driverless delivery the present. The trio this month announced that they’re launching an autonomous delivery service in Miami; Austin, Texas; and Washington, D.C. The trio had been testing the concept since 2018.
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The three cities were previously named as host cities for Ford’s autonomous vehicle testing fleet. Ford has been testing self-driving vehicles in Miami and Washington, D.C., since 2018 and in Austin since 2019. Other major test cities include Pittsburgh, Palo Alto, and Detroit.
Earlier this year, Ford and Argo AI announced that they’re also partnering with Lyft to launch autonomous ride-hailing in Miami and Austin. Ford also has ongoing partnerships with companies including Postmates and Domino’s.
“Argo and Ford are aggressively preparing for large-scale autonomous vehicle operations across a broad footprint of U.S. cities,” said Ford Autonomous Vehicles & Mobility CEO Scott Griffith. “Pairing Walmart’s retail and e-commerce leadership with Argo and Ford’s self-driving operations across these multiple cities marks a significant step toward scaling a commercial goods delivery service that will ultimately power first-to-scale business efficiencies and enable a great consumer experience.”
Walmart service will be limited at onset, expand over time
Photo: Ford
Walmart customers within “defined service areas” in the three cities will be able to take advantage of the autonomous delivery service. At the onset, one store in each city will offer the service — the number of stores and service areas will expand over time. Self-driving Ford Escape Hybrid vehicles will carry orders to customers’ homes so that they can unload their goods.
Ford’s goal is to launch its own self-driving vehicle business in 2022. Ford is also working toward bringing fully autonomous vehicle technology to passenger vehicles — the Mustang Mach-E, F-150, and F-50 Lightning are among the first to receive BlueCruise, Ford’s first hands-free driving tech.
Kyle S. Johnson lives in Cincinnati, a city known by many as “the Cincinnati of Southwest Ohio.” He enjoys professional wrestling, Halloween, and also other things. He has been writing for a while, and he plans to continue to write well into the future. See more articles by Kyle.