It's a shame that the pods won't be making deliveries until the fall, but hey, a self-driving Prius is better than nothin'.
Nuro
When Kroger and Nuro first announced their driverless grocery delivery partnership, the two companies didn't say where the pilot program would kick off. Now, we know — it's Scottsdale!
Kroger and Nuro announced this week that the autonomous delivery service has launched in Scottsdale, Arizona. It's limited to a single Fry's Food Stores location at the moment, but the program has already started, so people who live nearby can start placing grocery orders and they'll arrive in a driverless vehicle.
Using the Fry's Food Stores app or website, you can place grocery orders and check whether or not there's an open slot for autonomous delivery. If there is, you can book either same-day or next-day delivery, and boom — an autonomous vehicle will arrive at your home.
Most of the press surrounding this partnership has focused on Nuro's R1 driverless vehicle, which is a pod-like vehicle built solely for carrying things. While the R1 will be included in this program, it won't start making deliveries until the fall. For now, a self-driving Prius will show up at your door instead. That's a little less fun. When the R1 launches, you'll have to enter a code on the side of the vehicle, which will reveal the groceries hidden inside. It's unclear how the process works with the Prius.
Thankfully, it's not too expensive to have one of Nuro's vehicles bring your groceries home. The delivery itself will cost $5.95, and there's no minimum of groceries. So if you only want to order a 2-liter of soda, go for it.
