Uber and Motional Offer Autonomous Food Delivery in Santa Monica, CA, 2022

Motional and Uber Eats are partnering to offer autonomous food delivery to customers in Santa Monica. In this partnership, Motional provides a fleet of electric Hyundai IONIQ 5 vehicles. Uber Eats manages the ordering, routing, and payment technologies. When customers place an order at a participating restaurant, that restaurant is notified to prepare the order and meet the delivery vehicle at a designated pick-up location. Staff put the order in a backseat compartment. When the Hyundai IONIQ 5 arrives for delivery, customers use the Uber Eats smartphone app to unlock the vehicle door and pick up their food.

Santa Monica has served as a testing ground for various shared mobility and delivery pilots through initiatives like the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator. In this pilot, Motional, Uber, and the City of Santa Monica can observe and test integrations for autonomous vehicles (AVs), payments, routing, delivery, and other related logistics. Efforts like this can better inform the implementation of AV delivery pilots and partnerships throughout southern California and elsewhere.

Last updated June 8, 2022