Asda will start delivering food to customers across London using driverless cars

Asda customers will have groceries delivered by self-driving vehicles from today as the supermarket has started a trial of self-driving cars.

The retailer claims the move is Britain’s largest trial of autonomous home grocery delivery to date.

Customers across London will have their groceries delivered at home by ‘self-driving’ Jaguar I-Pace electric cars.

In partnership with Wayve, a developer of artificial intelligence for self-driving vehicles, the year-long trial will enable Asda to autonomously deliver orders to a catchment area of ​​more than 170,000 residents in 72,000 London households.

The vehicles will be added to Asda’s existing delivery fleet at its Park Royal store in west London.

The retailer claims the move will be Britain’s biggest test for autonomous home delivery of groceries to date

Asda Park Royal customers who place their delivery orders online as normal can be randomly selected to have their items delivered in a self-driving vehicle.

However, the cars will not be completely unattended.

During the trial, both an Asda colleague and the supervising Wayve safety driver sit in the car delivering supplies as a safety net for the technology.

Asda employees load and unload groceries at customers’ homes, but they are transported from retailer to door using the London-based tech company’s self-driving software.

Wayve’s ‘AV2.0’ uses machine learning to train its AI software to learn from experience how to drive safely in any environment, Asda said.

The company explained that the system is designed to “constantly monitor the road” and identify “potential hazards” to make the safest decision possible.

The launch follows a two-year partnership between the retail giant and the autonomous vehicle technology start-up, which aims to lead the development of a self-driving vehicle solution for the food market.

Customers across London will have their groceries delivered at home by ‘self-driving’ Jaguar I-Pace electric cars

In partnership with Wayve, an artificial intelligence developer for self-driving vehicles, the year-long trial will give Asda the ability to deliver groceries autonomously

Asda colleagues load and unload the groceries at the customer’s home, but are transported from the store to the door in a self-driving vehicle

Simon Gregg, Vice President of eCommerce at Asda, said: ‘Asda has long understood the value of bringing technological innovation to the online grocery sector and we are always looking for new and innovative partnerships to improve delivery options for customers.

“We believe autonomous technology is an exciting opportunity to shape the future of delivery, not just at our Park Royal store, but across our nationwide business.

“Through our partnership with Wayve, we are testing this technology to understand how it can support our busy retail operations, while also adding a unique, reliable and efficient option for Asda customers to have a range of products delivered to their doorstep. ‘

Wayve’s ‘AV2.0’ method uses machine learning to train its AI software to learn from experience how to drive safely in any environment, according to Asda

Alex Kendall, co-founder and CEO of Wayve said: ‘We are delighted to be partnering with Asda on the largest urban autonomous grocery delivery in Europe.

“The trial is a demonstration of how autonomy can meet the needs of fleet owners. We started developing our AV technology over five years ago and it’s incredible to see it delivering real value as part of Asda’s day-to-day operations today.”

“We appreciate our work with Asda to lay the groundwork for future autonomous grocery delivery. Trials like this accelerate our path to implementation.

“They provide the lessons needed to bring the benefits of AV technology to customers faster, while ensuring that companies, such as Asda, are prepared to deploy AVs at scale.”