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Kroger Launches Autonomous Grocery Delivery Service In Arizona (arstechnica.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the curbside-delivery dept.

Residents of Scottsdale, Arizona will be able to receive autonomous grocery deliveries from Kroger-owned Fry's Food Stores. The technology required to make this all possible is supplied by Nuro, a self-driving vehicle startup founded by two veterans of Google's self-driving car project. Ars Technica reports: Kroger says that deliveries will have a flat $5.95 delivery fee, and customers can schedule same-day or next-day deliveries. Initially, the deliveries will be made by Nuro's fleet of modified Toyota Priuses with a safety driver behind the wheel. But Kroger expects to start using Nuro's production model -- which doesn't even have space for a driver -- this fall. That vehicle, known as the R1, is significantly smaller and lighter than a conventional passenger car. When we talked to Nuro cofounder Dave Ferguson back in May, he argued that the R1's design had significant safety benefits. A smaller, lighter vehicle would do less damage if it ever ran into something. The vehicle's maximum speed of 25 miles per hour also makes serious injuries less likely. And the fact that the car is dramatically narrower than a traditional car gives it significant safety benefits, Ferguson argued.

8 of 41 comments (clear)

  1. Delivery is great for processed foods... by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 3, Insightful

    not so great for foods that need to be picked and chosen, like fruits/veggies/meats/fish.

    1. Re:Delivery is great for processed foods... by PopeRatzo · · Score: 2

      not so great for foods that need to be picked and chosen, like fruits/veggies/meats/fish.

      If you live in Arizona, you're probably not worrying about fresh produce or meat because those are hard to chew with dentures. This service will be fine for delivering cases of Ensure nutrition drinks.

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    2. Re:Delivery is great for processed foods... by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 4, Interesting

      That was a common fear when our supermarkets started home delivery: you'll get all the crap produce, dairy that's near the end of its sell-by date, and the poorer cuts of meat. Fortunately that fear turned out to be unfounded: the stufff they deliver to your home is just as good as the best you can select yourself from their shelves. Which, in case of meat and produce, isn't very good to begin with. Oh well... it's great for the other household staples such as booze and kitty litter.

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    3. Re:Delivery is great for processed foods... by postbigbang · · Score: 2

      And I'm for involving humans, at living wage. The Krogers in my neighborhood tries to hand everyone their own scanner, and hopes they'll check out with their own scanning snafu.

      The sadness is the store is now only half of a grocery store, the rest being non-grocery items, booze, greeting cards, motor oil, pharmaceuticals, concessions (Murray's Most Expensive Cheese Kiosks), and so forth.

      When a 25mph vehicle comes to my community, sadly, it might end up in a lake along with the rental scooters. This is not the future; this is an MBA's idea of cutting costs and enhancing perceived convenience. I have no kitties and don't touch booze.... I can imagine the $7 roll of toilet paper, though. Sometimes when you need stuff, you need stuff, but it's an edge case.

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    4. Re:Delivery is great for processed foods... by serviscope_minor · · Score: 2

      not so great for foods that need to be picked and chosen, like fruits/veggies/meats/fish.

      It's way better than you might expect. I don't often get fresh stuff from supermarket deliveries but I've done s a number of times and always been pleasantly surprised.

      At least in the UK anyway where there's very stiff competition for supermarkey delieveries. They have clearly figured that selecting the mankiest crap for the onlie shoppers is not a god way toget repeat custo m.

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      SJW n. One who posts facts.
  2. Re:25 mph? by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 2

    Drive on the extreme right or on the sidewalk. Also, this is downtown Scottsdale, are there actually 45 mph streets?

  3. When you order online by rsilvergun · · Score: 2

    You tend to get higher quality. It also costs a lot more because they don't apply any of the discounts. Half the benefit is not having to pick through a bunch of crap produce, especially if you're not good at it (e.g. you're color blind). My bro hates shopping and before his income crashed (thanks, outsourcing & H1-Bs) he used to pay for delivery.

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  4. 25MPH?? by fluffernutter · · Score: 2

    Wouldn't a maximum speed of 25MPH qualify for an impeding traffic offense on many routes? Doesn't seem right that a car wouldn't be expected to drive the speed limit. What is the recourse for drivers who are held up behind one of these? Are they as narrow as a bicycle so people can drive around them? I see a lot of road rage coming.

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