Nuro is thought within the autonomous vehicle industry for our custom vehicles, that are zero-emission, purpose-built for goods delivery, and prioritize road safety above all else.
At any given time, we now have multiple vehicles on the roads, all playing different roles from mapping a neighborhood to testing our autonomy system and ultimately, performing deliveries. On this blog, we’d like to offer you an in depth have a look at our fleet, and explain each vehicle’s role in scaling our delivery service with nationally recognized brands.
Our first vehicle, R1, was our prototype; it demonstrated a goods-only autonomous vehicle in motion for the very first time. After retiring R1, we introduced our second-generation vehicle, R2, in 2020. With R2, we added more cargo capability (about 420 lbs), and enabled the vehicle to handle more varied conditions at a greater, city-wide scale. R2 is the zero-occupant vehicle you’re most definitely to see on roads today.
Our third and newest vehicle, Nuro, was unveiled in January 2022. We built Nuro to be the primary automotive grade delivery AV to be produced at scale with our manufacturing partner BYD. Nuro can fit much more cargo (24 bags of groceries or 500 lbs) and has modular compartments to maintain meals hot and drinks cold. Certainly one of the most important safety features of Nuro is an external airbag — the primary of its kind — designed to guard people outside the vehicle. This vehicle is currently in pre-production and testing, and can debut on public roads soon.
Along with our zero-occupant vehicles, Nuro operates a Prius fleet consisting of a first-generation vehicle called P1 and the most recent version, P2. These vehicles are equipped with the very same sensor and compute capabilities as R2 and Nuro, respectively. Importantly, the Prius vehicles can accommodate safety drivers, who play a vital role in testing recent versions of our autonomy software. This is a vital distinction, because R2 and Nuro haven’t any space for passengers or drivers.
To enter a recent market, Nuro first sends within the Prius fleet (with a security operator on board) to map out neighborhoods for our autonomy software. This offers us the power to check and validate with real world data gathered in our newest neighborhoods. Once we’re ready to begin making deliveries, the Prius vehicles are also deployed in autonomous mode to check and validate a smooth delivery experience.
As we proceed to construct our autonomy capabilities, this last step will change and our zero-occupant vehicles will take over all testing and validation from the Prius fleet. Soon, we are going to use our Prius fleet exclusively to map recent neighborhoods, and our zero-occupant vehicles for all the pieces from testing to scaling up deliveries in our service areas.
Together, our Prius vehicles, R2 and Nuro each represent a vital stage of our progress in any given market. From exploring recent neighborhoods to creating deliveries, we are going to proceed to depend on every vehicle in our fleet to securely introduce autonomous delivery in neighborhoods across the US.
