HOUSTON — Houston, we have driverless grocery delivery!
Kroger and Nuro have launched autonomous delivery in two zip codes in Houston, 77401 and 77096.
Kroger’s South Post Oak Road store is the first location to operate the service in the city, followed by the Buffalo Speedway store later this spring.
Kroger and Nuro will begin the service with Nuro’s manual and self-driving Toyota Prius fleet, and will introduce the next generation of Nuro’s custom driverless vehicle, R1, later this year.
The price is $5.95 and it’s a flat fee with no minimum purchase. That’s a dollar more than grocery pickup at Kroger. Regular Kroger delivery is $11.95.
The Priuses are equipped with cameras, radar, and what's called LIDAR.
They use light waves to measure distance, but the Priuses will have two employees inside, along with your groceries.
They'll be taking notes and monitoring the software. And later this year, Nuro's goal is to roll out the tiny autonomous cars.
Houston is one of the first cities that will get the R1's.
The cars have already debuted in Phoenix.