Domino’s Pizza, Inc. (NYSE:DPZ) and Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) are teaming up to deliver pizza in a new way.
The two companies will be testing out delivering pizza to customers with a self-driving vehicle. This test is going to take place in Ann Arbor, Mich., and will be available to select customers ordering from Domino’s.
Customers that chose the self-driving vehicle for their delivery will be given a special access code to access the “Heatwave Compartment” inside the vehicle to retrieve their food. They will also be able to keep tabs the vehicle with GPS via Domino’s Tracker feature. A text message will give them instructions on how to get food from the car.
While the vehicle will be handling the delivery process, it won’t be on its own. A Ford safety engineer will be on board for manual driving in case of emergencies. There will also be researchers there to determine how customers interact, and respond to, a self-driving car delivering their Domino’s orders.
Domino’s and Ford are moving forward with the pizza delivery tests following success during simulations at the University of Michigan’s Mcity, which simulates an urban environment. Ford will be using a modified version of its Fusion for the deliveries.
“I’m delighted that Ann Arbor continues to be at the forefront of autonomous-vehicle research,” Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher Taylor said in a statement. “While it’s pizza delivery today, my hope is that collaborations such as this will enable even more innovations tomorrow.”
DPZ stock was down slightly as of Tuesday morning.
As of this writing, William White did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
