Nuro, the autonomous delivery startup, has obtained the first-ever approval from the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to launch driverless services in the state. The milestone achievement makes Nuro the first company to receive approval of this kind, ahead of companies like GM and Amazon who have only received testing approvals for their bids in the same technology thus far.
Following the approval, Nuro can now start autonomous routine deliveries of food, beverages, medicine, and other products in California. The firm states that it will soon begin operating commercially on California roads in two counties—Santa Clara and San Mateo— near its headquarters in the Bay Area with an established partner. The company stated in a blog post:
We have extensively tested our self-driving technology and built a track record of safe operations over the past four years, including two successful commercial deployments in other states and driverless testing with R2 in the Bay Area communities where we plan to deploy.
Service will start off with a fleet of Toyota Prius vehicles in fully autonomous mode before the company eventually deploys its custom-built electric R2 vehicles. Nuro accentuated that safety is the primary concern for its vehicles, stating that the "R2 was purposefully engineered for safety, with a design that prioritizes what’s outside — the people with whom we share the roads — over what’s inside." As such, deliveries can only occur during good weather conditions, and the vehicles will be limited to a maximum of 25mph (~40km/h).
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