Pizza Hut, Amazon team with Toyota on self-driving delivery future
- Tuesday, January 9th, 2018
- Share this article:
Pizza Hut, Amazon, Uber, Mazda, and DiDi Chuxing are amongst the first businesses to partner with Toyota to explore the possibilities of a new concept vehicle designed by the Japanese automaker.
The e-Palette Concept Vehicle, unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), has been designed by Toyota to ‘meet the demands of future multi-mode transportation and business applications’. Leveraging Toyota’s Mobility Services Platform (MSPF), the vehicle is electric and fully automated.
“The automobile industry is clearly amidst its most dramatic period of change as technologies like electrification, connected and automated driving are making significant progress,” said Akio Toyoda, Toyota Motor Corporation president. “Toyota remains committed to making ever better cars. Just as important, we are developing mobility solutions to help everyone enjoy their lives, and we are doing our part to create an ever-better society for the next 100 years and beyond. This announcement marks a major step forward in our evolution towards sustainable mobility, demonstrating our continued expansion beyond traditional cars and trucks to the creation of new values including services for customers.”
Toyota plans on testing the concept vehicle in regions around the world in early 2020, with the hopes of contributing to the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo that year. Toyota’s partners will be able to leverage the concept in coordination with all of the MSPF services, or incorporate the vehicle into their own tech development program.
So, we can prepare ourselves for self-driving pizza deliveries, Amazon deliveries, and Uber rides in a pod-like, futuristic-looking AI vehicle.