Technology

Ford and Walmart will test self-driving grocery delivery in Miami

By Rob Wile

November 14, 2018 07:00 AM

Ford has chosen Miami as the first city to host its self-driving cars

Ford will be launching a fleet of self-driving cars in Miami on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2018. Mayor Carlos Gimenez hopes self-driving cars will help alleviate Miami’s traffic problems.
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Ford will be launching a fleet of self-driving cars in Miami on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2018. Mayor Carlos Gimenez hopes self-driving cars will help alleviate Miami’s traffic problems.
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Ford continues to double-down on its self-driving-car testing program in Miami-Dade, announcing Wednesday a new grocery delivery partnership with Walmart.

The Detroit auto giant said it will piggy-back on Walmart’s existing partnership with delivery service Postmates to bring Walmart groceries to Miami-Dade customers. The twist: They’ll arrive in vehicles designed to mimic the behavior of an autonomous vehicle. (Backup safety drivers are still behind the wheel.)

“Over the next couple of months, we’ll be working closely with Walmart to understand its operations, identify what goods we can feasibly transport, and pinpoint any issues that may need to be addressed to successfully deliver orders via self-driving vehicles,” Ford said in a release.

There are approximately 30 staff members between Ford and Argo AI, the company powering Ford’s autonomous vehicle technology, working at Ford’s Wynwood-based self-driving-car operation now. Ford said it expects to double or triple that number over the course of the next year.

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