British retail giant Asda has joined forces with self-driving company Wayve to launch Europe’s largest trial of autonomous grocery delivery in urban areas. Over the next year, more than 170,000 residents in approximately 72,000 households near Asda’s Park Royal store in West London may have their groceries delivered by one of Wayve’s autonomous Jaguar i-Pace models.
Customers will place their orders online as usual, choose a delivery time slot, and may be randomly selected to have their groceries delivered by a self-driving car. During the trial, the Wayve Jaguars will have both a safety driver and an Asda staff member on board. The safety driver will monitor the car’s progress on the road, while the staff member will assist with unloading the groceries at the customer’s home.
Wayve’s AV2.0 technology powers the vehicles. The London-based startup claims that its solution uses machine learning, eliminating the need for expensive and complex robotic systems that rely on detailed maps and pre-programmed rules. This approach allows the vehicles to learn from experience and operate autonomously in any environment, even unfamiliar ones.
By leveraging its data-driven AI Driver, Wayve can convert inputs from cameras and radar into driving outputs through a single neural network integrated into the vehicle. The system constantly monitors the road, identifies potential hazards, and makes the safest decisions possible. Wayve believes that this approach paves the way for a more scalable self-driving delivery solution.
Asda, the second-largest online supermarket in the United Kingdom, with over 20% market share, delivers more than 800,000 orders across the country each week. The trial marks the culmination of a two-year partnership between Asda and Wayve.
Alex Kendall, co-founder and CEO of Wayve, expressed excitement about partnering with Asda for Europe’s largest urban autonomous grocery delivery trial, emphasizing that such trials accelerate the path to deployment and provide valuable insights for bringing the benefits of autonomous vehicle (AV) technology to customers sooner. Simon Gregg, senior vice president of eCommerce at Asda, sees autonomous technology as an exciting opportunity to shape the future of delivery and improve store operations, offering customers a unique, reliable, and efficient option for doorstep deliveries.
While the Park Royal store is the initial beneficiary of this technology, Wayve has the potential to extend autonomous delivery services to additional Asda locations if the trial proves successful.
