Nuro Inc. has won permission to test driverless, low-speed delivery vehicles in the San Francisco Bay Area, becoming the second company to allowed to operate on public roads without a driver.
The startup backed by SoftBank Group Corp. received approval from the California Department of Motor Vehicles on Tuesday, after the agency granted a driverless testing permit to Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo unit.
More than 60 other companies hold permits from the state to test autonomous vehicles with a safety driver behind the wheel. “The Covid-19 pandemic has expedited the public need for contactless delivery services," David Estrada, Nuro’s chief policy officer, said in a blog post. “Our R2 fleet is custom-designed to change the very nature of driving and