Self-driving vehicles get in on the delivery scene amid Covid-19

Self-driving vehicles get in on the delivery scene amid Covid-19

Self-driving cars, trucks, sidewalk robots and shuttles are rolling out of the labs and parking garages and onto American streets to help deliver groceries, meals, and medical supplies.. Although self-driving car companies have paused on-road testing in the US, as it is not considered an essential business, pivoting to deliveries allows them back on the road to gather more data.. Since mid-April, the cars of General Motors Co'sself-driving unit Cruise have flashed a "SF Covid-19 Response" sign on their windshields as they deliver food from SF-Marin Food Bank and SF New Deal to seniors in need.. We're not making a fundamental pivot away from ride-sharing," said Rob Grant, vice president of government affairs at Cruise. ". What I do see is this pandemic really showing where self-driving vehicles can be of use in the future.. Pony.ai said its cars are back on the street in California after a pause.. In early April Softbank-backed Nuro became the second company in California to receive a permit to operate a driverless vehicle on public roads.. Co-founder Dave Ferguson said Nuro was putting its latest R2 vehicles to work delivering medical supplies to a temporary COVID-19 hospital in Sacramento and a temporary medical facility