Autonomous delivery startup Nuro is gearing up for a comeback

Nuro gains DMV approval to test its R3 in four Bay Area cities, focusing on autonomy and AI advancements for future commercial deployment.

: Nuro received approval from the California DMV to test its R3 autonomous delivery vehicle in four Bay Area cities. The company, which paused large-scale manufacturing, is prioritizing advancements in AI and autonomy. Nuro continues to test and validate its new technology using retrofitted Toyota Priuses and plans to deploy the R3 later this year. Future scaling will depend on technological validation and potentially new manufacturing partnerships.

Nuro was granted approval by the California DMV to test its third-generation R3 autonomous delivery vehicle in Mountain View, Palo Alto, Los Altos, and Menlo Park. These driverless vehicles are designed solely for goods transportation, equipped with temperature-controlled storage units, and resemble large sidewalk delivery robots.

Nuro has refocused its efforts on perfecting its AI architecture and validating its autonomy software by using a fleet of retrofitted Toyota Priuses. Despite stopping its planned manufacturing with BYD, Nuro still manages to use a few dozen R3s for ongoing testing and plans wider deployment in the Bay Area and Houston.

Progress in AI has enhanced Nuro's capabilities, allowing the R3 to potentially drive up to 45 miles per hour. This sets the stage for future scaling, although commercial deployment and large-scale manufacturing might only proceed with a new partner due to possible tariffs on BYD products. For now, Nuro remains focused on thorough technological validation and maximizing Uber Eats delivery operations.

AutonomyAI advancementsAutonomous delivery