Two months after the self-driving car technology startup changed its business strategy to license its AV technology to automakers and mobility providers, Nuro has , is deploying a test fleet of driverless and passengerless R3 vehicles in the Bay Area and Houston.
This large-scale demo expands on the areas Nuro is currently testing and is designed to demonstrate Nuro's technology to potential customers. This startup has two proposals. For OEMs, Nuro hopes to sell self-driving products for passenger cars and commercial vehicles. For companies offering goods delivery or ride-hailing services, Nuro's fully driverless technology (including hardware and software) is on sale.
Nuro, which has raised more than $2 billion from high-profile investors including Tiger Global Management and SoftBank Vision Fund, had plans to own and operate a fleet of slow, roadside delivery bots. The company has conducted delivery trials with Domino's Pizza and FedEx, and currently operates a small delivery operation with Uber Eats. Nuro's R3 robot is set to be the company's next-generation vehicle, and it received approval from the California Department of Surface Transportation this year to expand testing. Nuro canceled plans to mass produce the vehicle and changed direction after multiple rounds of layoffs and other cost-cutting measures were not enough to maintain its original business model.
For the first time, Nuro will test vehicles and self-driving stacks at speeds up to 35 miles per hour in Palo Alto and Mountain View, California, and in Houston.
Andrew Chapin, Nuro's chief operating officer, said the improved technology allows for more complex driving scenarios, such as responding to emergency vehicles, navigating construction zones, and responding to school buses, without relying on remote safety operators. He told TechCrunch that it is now compatible with Chapin said this is the first time Nuro will test vehicles at night without a safety driver.
“[The test is] “Geography has expanded significantly, and its complexity means that at the moment you can drive on virtually all roads except highways,” Chapin said. “Given our efforts toward building truly scalable, secure, and cost-effective autonomous systems, this is a step up the mountain in terms of what our systems can do without any assistance. It's like establishing a new base camp for “safety drivers.'' ”