Electric vehicle startup Arcimoto partnered with autonomous tech firm Faction Technology to develop D1, a next-generation driverless fast delivery vehicle. With a significant reduction in emissions and improved customer service, the vehicle would provide a highly efficient solution for last mile deliveries.
Faction D1 is a vehicle that combines autonomy with remote human teleoperation. It has the same transmission as the Popular Fun Utility Vehicles (FUV) of Arcimoto, which means it can reach speeds of up to 120 km / h and has a range of around 160 kilometers (100 miles).
Fast deliveries: very, very fast
"Scalable driverless vehicle technologies require special chassis-level engineering, which we can develop much faster with Arcimoto's state-of-the-art platform," says Faction CEO. Ain McKendrick. "The final product will be a small, ultra-efficient driverless express delivery vehicle that pollutes less and costs less."
In summary: the more "tailored" dimensions of the vehicle, greater speed will considerably increase efficiency, sustainability and versatility. In addition to general fleet use on demand, the cargo area can be customized for specific payloads and special applications.
Such solutions will offer significant cost savings, especially in fast deliveries on urban routes within a radius of 8 kilometers (5 miles). The service charges? They are estimated at less than 1 euro per kilometer (2 dollars per mile) for fast deliveries.
What about security? If these 'so' also start to run ...
Faction D1 is equipped with state-of-the-art sensors and safety systems: this should make me feel more comfortable, I guess? In reality it makes me feel more comfortable that the speed will be calibrated on the actual footprint of the route. 'As well as these they will run a little more in small cleared sections or on the ring roads, to slow down in the urban area.
Either way, there's little doubt: Implementing ultra-efficient large-scale electric vehicles for quick deliveries will change the rules of the game for last-mile logistics.
