Cruise expands Walmart autonomous delivery pilot in Arizona – TechCrunch
Cruise, the self-driving car unit of General Motors, has expanded its autonomous delivery pilot with Walmart in Arizona. The company will now be doing limited deliveries for customers in Chandler, in addition to Scottsdale.
The news comes a couple of months after Cruise had teased the expansion at a public meeting with Arizona state legislators, wherein Carter Stern, Cruise’s senior government affairs manager, said the company would expand in the state first before exporting self-driving delivery to the rest of the country.
Cruise’s initial pilot with the Walmart located on Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community lands near Scottsdale began in November 2020. In April 2021, Walmart became an investor in Cruise to aid the development of its autonomous delivery ecosystem.
The expanded pilot, which now features the Walmart in north Chandler on Warner Road, will still have limited availability between the two stores, according to Cruise’s website. Cruise did not respond in time to queries about how many vehicles are included in the pilot, what Cruise means by “limited availability,” what the operational design domain in Chandler will be or whether Cruise still intends to use autonomous Chevy Bolt EVs for self-driving delivery in Arizona.
Walmart customers are told that they’ll save money by opting to have their orders delivered by Cruise. To opt-in, they must place their Walmart order online and agree to receive SMS messages. If their order qualifies, they’ll receive a message from Cruise asking if they’d like to receive their parcel from one of Cruise’s vehicles.
If they say yes, they can track their order and receive notifications when the vehicle is two minutes away and when it has arrived. Customers then meet the car at the curb, using their phone to unlock the rear passenger door, grab the order and then, if polite, close the door.
The expansion of the self-driving delivery pilot in Arizona should bring in some much-needed revenue for Cruise as it sets out to increase both delivery and robotaxi operations.
Most of Cruise’s operations are focused on San Francisco, where the company is offering free driverless robotaxi services to the public. Cruise cannot currently charge for its ride-hailing service until it secures a permit from the California Public Utilities Commission.
Cruise’s service in San Francisco is available from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. It’s not clear what hours the company will be delivering orders for Walmart in Arizona.
Arizona is also where Waymo, Cruise’s main competitor, operates a commercial robotaxi service in Phoenix.
