Waymo dips its wheels back into delivery, this time with DoorDash

The sprawling metropolis of Phoenix continues to be a testing ground for Waymo, and not just on the technology front. The Alphabet-owned company used its first test and commercial market to experiment with its business model, including delivery.

Waymo is known for its robotics, but it has also tested how its technology can be used for delivery. Before this the company UPS is tapped And for Uber’s pilot program, it has enough staff and resources to develop self-driving trucks under it. Wemo Via Armsbefore shutting down that program in 2023 to focus on robotics.

Now, it looks like Waymo is ready to test the delivery waters with a strategic, multi-year partnership with DoorDash. Waymo has no other active delivery-focused trials, operations or partnerships, according to a company spokesperson.

The partnership will match DoorDash customers ordering food and groceries with a self-driving Waymo within a 315-square-mile area of ​​Phoenix, the company wrote in a Blog post.

Not every DoorDash order will result in a Waymo delivery. Initially, the Waymo delivery service will deliver orders from DashMart — DoorDash’s convenience, grocery and retail stores. The companies said that, over time, more local Phoenix merchants and a variety of offerings will be added.

David Richter, DoorDash’s vice president of business and corporate development, said the deal with Waymo will give customers a “new and exciting experience, advancing our vision for a multi-modal autonomous.
The future of local commerce.

DoorDash is not new to the autonomous vehicle technology arena. There are companies Partnering with Sidewalk Delivery Bot Company Serve robotics to cover parts of Los Angeles. It also has its own in-house autonomous vehicle technology team that has developed and manufactured a Autonomous delivery bots called the dot. The delivery bot, which was released in September, is being tested in the Phoenix area.

The deal with Waymo will not involve DoorDash’s Dot car. Instead, food or groceries will be placed in the trunk of a Waymo vehicle – a driverless Jaguar i-Pace that will navigate itself to the customer. From here, the customer must retrieve items from the trunk through the DoorDash app.

This last step, which requires the customer to approach the vehicle and grab the delivered items, will be the big test for both companies, hoping to determine whether receiving groceries delivered by an autonomous vehicle will outweigh the convenience of having the items delivered to their door.