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Asda has partnered with Wayve self-driving vehicles in a year-long trial that will give the supermarket the ability to autonomously deliver groceries to over 170,000 residents across 72,000 households in London.
The Wayve self-driving vehicles will join Asda’s existing online delivery operation at the Park Royal superstore in West London and have the capability to drive themselves to customers’ homes.
Asda Park Royal customers can place their next-day delivery orders online as usual and select a delivery slot that suits them. They could then be randomly selected to have their order delivered in a self-driving vehicle.
During the 12-month trial, both an Asda colleague and supervising Wayve safety driver will be in the vehicle when making deliveries.
Asda colleagues will load and unload the groceries at the customer’s home, but they will be transported from the store to the door in a self-driving vehicle.
Asda said that this is the first trial in the UK that can launch directly into commercial operations, without diverging from the operation of the store’s online delivery processes.
Wayve’s ‘AV2.0’ solution uses machine learning to train its AI software to learn from experience how to drive in any environment.
This results in AV technology that is not geo-fenced by highly detailed maps or pre-defined routes and can autonomously drive anywhere in its urban domain even to places it’s never been to before.
The system is designed to constantly monitor the road, identifying potential hazards and making the safest decisions possible.
Asda stated that the launch follows a two-year partnership between the retail firm and autonomous vehicle technology start-up that aims to lead the way on developing a self-driving vehicle solution for the grocery market.
Simon Gregg, vice president of e-commerce at Asda, said: “Asda has long understood the value of bringing tech innovation to the online grocery sector and we are always looking at new and innovative partnerships to improve delivery options for customers. We believe autonomous technology is an exciting opportunity to shape the future of delivery, not only at our Park Royal store but throughout our nationwide operation.
“Through our partnership with Wayve, we are trialling this technology to understand how it can assist our busy store operations, whilst also adding a unique, reliable and efficient option for Asda customers to have a whole range of products delivered to their doors.”
Alex Kendall, co-founder and CEO at Wayve, added: “We’re excited to partner with Asda on the largest urban autonomous grocery delivery trial in Europe. The trial is a demonstration of how autonomy can meet fleet owner needs. We started developing our AV technology over five years ago: it’s incredible to see it delivering real value today as part of Asda’s daily operations.”
