The sprawling metropolis of Phoenix continues to be a testbed for Waymo, and not just on the technical front. The Alphabet-owned company has used its first testing and commercial market to experiment with its business model, too, including delivery.
Waymo is known for its robotaxis, but it has tested how its tech could be used for delivery. The company previously tapped UPS and Uber Eats for pilot programs, and it put considerable staff and resources toward developing self-driving trucks under its Waymo Via arm, before shuttering that program in 2023 to focus on robotaxis.
Now it seems Waymo is ready to test the delivery waters through a strategic, multi-year partnership with DoorDash. Waymo doesn’t have any other active delivery-focused testing, operations, or partnerships, according to a company spokesperson.
The partnership will match DoorDash customers ordering food and groceries within a 315-square-mile area of Phoenix with a self-driving Waymo, the company wrote in a blog post.
Not every DoorDash order will result in a Waymo delivery. Initially, the Waymo delivery service will deliver orders from DashMart — DoorDash’s convenience, grocery, and retail stores. The companies said that, over time, more local Phoenix merchants and a wider variety of offerings will be added.
David Richter, vice president of business and corporate development at DoorDash, said the deal with Waymo will give customers a “new and delightful experience, while advancing our vision for a multi-modal autonomous
future of local commerce.”
DoorDash isn’t new to the autonomous vehicle technology arena. The company has partnered with sidewalk delivery bot company Serve Robotics to cover parts of Los Angeles. It also has its own in-house autonomous vehicle tech team that developed and produced an autonomous delivery bot called Dot. The delivery bot, which was revealed in September, is being tested in the Phoenix area.
The deal with Waymo won’t involve DoorDash’s Dot vehicle, however. Instead, food or groceries will be placed in the trunk of a Waymo vehicle — a driverless Jaguar I-Pace that will navigate on its own to the customer. From here, the customer will have to retrieve the items from the trunk via the DoorDash app.
This last step, which requires the customer to walk out to the car and grab the delivered items, will be the big test for both companies, as they try to determine whether the novelty of receiving groceries delivered by an autonomous vehicle outweighs the convenience of a human handing over the items at their door.
