The food delivery robots have come to Alexandria, and they’ve got your order.
California-based Serve Robotics Inc., in partnership with Uber Eats, recently launched its autonomous sidewalk delivery company across the city. That means that folks ordering food in Old Town, Del Ray, Potomac West and nearby neighborhoods now have the option to get their orders delivered by a driverless robot.
“Delivering our autonomous service in Alexandria is a landmark step toward enabling scalable, sustainable last-mile logistics in historically rich, pedestrian-oriented cities,” said Ali Kashani, CEO & co-founder of Serve Robotics, in a release. “This represents steady execution against our 2025 roadmap, as we had promised. Alexandria’s vibrant heritage, strong sense of community, and ongoing focus on smart mobility make it an ideal launch ground for our next generation of sidewalk robots.”
The company launched earlier this year in Los Angeles, Miami, Dallas, Atlanta and Chicago, before expanding to Fort Lauderdale and Alexandria. A deployment of 2,000 robots is expected by the end of this year, according to an investor presentation.
Depending on the model, the robots can travel between 7 and 11 miles per hour, with a range of 23 to 48 miles, and have 13-to-15 gallon cargo holds. The machines are heavy rain-proof.
“Uber Eats is excited to extend our partnership with Serve Robotics into Alexandria,” said Aaron Emrich, Global Head of Autonomous Delivery at Uber. “Together, we’re enabling more consumers to experience the convenience and novelty of robot-powered delivery, while helping merchants serve their customers in new ways.”
Photo via Serve Robotics/Instagram.
