Self-Driving Delivery Startup Nuro Prepares for a Revival

This week, the California Department of Motor Vehicles granted Nuro the green light to initiate testing of its R3 autonomous delivery vehicle across four cities in the Bay Area, marking a significant milestone for the startup amid prior challenges and financial hurdles.

Nuro has been authorized to deploy its unmanned delivery vehicles in Mountain View, Palo Alto, Los Altos, and Menlo Park. Engineered without the conventional features of a car such as seats, windows, or steering wheels, Nuro’s vehicles are designed solely for transporting goods. These vehicles, operating on public roads, resemble oversized robotic delivery units on sidewalks and come equipped with climate-controlled compartments for food storage.

According to co-founder Dave Ferguson in an interview with TechCrunch, this expansion signifies the third, potentially even the second, largest deployment of completely autonomous vehicles in the U.S., trailing behind Waymo and possibly Cruise, which had a broader operational footprint prior to halting its fleet operations last year.

Additionally, Nuro has a decade-long commercial agreement with Uber Eats, currently in its testing phase using third-party vehicles.

The unveiling of R3 has been anticipated by Nuro for some time. However, the company took a step back last year from a major production ramp-up with BYD, a Chinese automaker, amidst rapid cash expenditure. After securing over $2 billion from influential investors, Nuro found itself revisiting its strategies following two significant layoffs in two years, shifting focus primarily to perfecting its autonomous tech.

Ferguson conveyed to TechCrunch that immediate plans to resume large-scale manufacturing or bolster commercial activities are still on hold. Nuro is intensively concentrating on refining and verifying its AI technology, a move that Ferguson believes is beginning to yield substantial results.

“Our advancements in autonomy have significantly hastened, including software development and the integration of hardware and sensors essential for autonomy in a [Level 4] context,” Ferguson stated. The SAE characterizes Level 4 autonomy as the capability of a vehicle to operate independently without human intervention under specific conditions.

Ferguson revealed that the R3’s updated hardware and software have been undergoing tests on a fleet of modified Toyota Priuses, approximately 100 vehicles. This testing phase includes conducting deliveries for Uber Eats. The partnership between Uber Eats and Nuro for a 10-year commercial venture began in 2022.

Although the partnership with BYD for manufacturing the R3s was paused, Nuro managed to procure a limited number of R3 vehicles from the automaker. These will soon be deployed in both the Bay Area and Houston within the coming months. An Uber spokesperson informed TechCrunch of their anticipation to start leveraging the R3 for deliveries this fall.

“Compared to its predecessor, the R3, it is enabled to traverse a significantly larger [operational design domain],” Ferguson pointed out. The previous model, R2, capped at 25 miles per hour, whereas the R3 can potentially reach speeds up to 45 miles per hour. Initially, it may not operate at this maximum capacity, yet this capability allows for a broader scope of L4 autonomous testing and eventual commercial use, avoiding freeways.

Nuro’s progress in AI technology, both internally and industry-wide, has facilitated this advancement. Over recent years, Nuro has shifted towards employing one or two vast foundational AI models that consolidate tasks such as mapping, localization, perception, prediction, and planning. This approach enhances efficacy and performance, which is further validated in real-time using more conventional AI models for each specific task.

Such advancements not only promise faster speeds and broader operational areas for the R3 in both the Bay Area and Houston but also pave the way for Nuro’s future scaling endeavors.

While scaling operations won’t occur this year and future productions might seek alternatives to BYD due to potential tariffs, Ferguson maintains a positive outlook on the partnership. For the moment, Nuro’s priority remains perfecting its technology and maximizing benefits from its Uber Eats deliveries. Ferguson also hinted at exploring new markets beyond autonomous delivery, though details remain undisclosed.