In a significant development for autonomous vehicle technology, the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has granted Nuro approval to test its third-generation R3 autonomous delivery vehicle in four Bay Area cities: Mountain View, Palo Alto, Los Altos, and Menlo Park. This milestone comes at a crucial time for Nuro, which has been navigating financial challenges and operational setbacks.
Nuro’s R3 vehicles are designed specifically for delivery purposes and do not accommodate passengers. These vehicles are unique in that they lack seats, windows, steering wheels, and pedals, resembling large sidewalk delivery robots. They are equipped with temperature-controlled storage units to safely transport goods, including food.
With this expanded geographic area, Nuro’s deployment of fully driverless vehicles will be among the largest in the United States, following closely behind Waymo. Dave Ferguson, co-founder of Nuro, highlighted this achievement, noting that it may surpass the deployment span of Cruise before it grounded its fleet late last year.
Nuro has also entered into a 10-year commercial agreement with Uber Eats, utilizing third-party vehicles for testing. Despite earlier plans to ramp up manufacturing with Chinese electric car maker BYD, Nuro paused this initiative due to rapid cash burn and strategic realignment. The company, which raised over $2 billion from high-profile investors, underwent two rounds of layoffs and restructured its team to concentrate on perfecting its autonomous technology.
Ferguson emphasized that Nuro currently has no plans to resume large-scale manufacturing or commercial operations. Instead, the focus remains on testing and validating the new AI architecture. This shift in strategy is yielding positive results, with notable advancements in autonomy progress and timelines.
“We’ve dramatically accelerated our autonomy progress,” Ferguson stated. “This includes the software, hardware, sensing, and computing systems integral to our Level 4 autonomy.”
According to the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), Level 4 autonomy enables a vehicle to operate without human intervention in specific conditions. Nuro has been rigorously testing the R3’s hardware and software on a fleet of retrofitted Toyota Priuses, numbering around 100. These vehicles have also been used for Uber Eats deliveries, marking the continuation of a fruitful partnership.
Despite halting the BYD manufacturing deal, Nuro has acquired several dozen R3 units from the EV maker. These will be deployed in the Bay Area and Houston within the coming months. Uber anticipates starting deliveries with the R3 this fall.
“The R3 offers significant advantages over the R2, including the ability to operate at speeds up to 45 miles per hour, although initial deployments will not reach this speed,” Ferguson explained. “This expanded operational design domain allows for more comprehensive Level 4 driverless testing and commercialization across a wider region, excluding freeways.”
Advancements in AI have been pivotal in Nuro’s progress. The company has transitioned to using large foundational AI models for various tasks such as mapping, localization, perception, prediction, and planning. This integrated approach, combined with traditional systems, enhances performance and efficiency, paving the way for future scalability.
While large-scale deployment isn’t expected this year, Nuro remains focused on refining its technology and maximizing its Uber Eats deliveries. Ferguson mentioned that Nuro is also exploring other market opportunities beyond autonomous delivery, though details remain under wraps.
As Nuro continues to innovate and adapt, the approval to test its R3 autonomous delivery vehicles in the Bay Area marks a significant step towards achieving its vision of revolutionizing goods transportation through advanced autonomous technology.
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