Autonomous delivery sector tests path to larger-scale operations

A partnership among four Chinese companies is targeting the deployment of 50,000 battery-swapping autonomous delivery vehicles, as the sector explores how driverless fleets can be operated more efficiently across different urban logistics scenarios.

SAIC Maxus, autonomous-driving technology provider Zhuoyu Technology, CATL's battery-swapping subsidiary Shidai Dianfu, and urban logistics operator Ethan Global announced a cooperation project in Beijing on Sunday, with the four companies providing vehicles, autonomous-driving technology, battery assets and swapping services, and fleet operations, respectively.

The cooperation comes as autonomous delivery vehicles move beyond early-stage trials, putting greater emphasis on fleet utilization, dispatching efficiency, and the ability to handle different delivery scenarios at scale.

Wang Xuan, founder and CEO of Ethan Global, said the focus is increasingly shifting from the performance of individual vehicles to the operation of an entire fleet.

"In the first half of the industry race, the competition was about whether a vehicle could run. In the second half, it is about whether an entire city's transport capacity can be optimally coordinated as a whole," Wang said.

The distinction matters because the economics of an autonomous vehicle depend heavily on how much of the day it is actually in use. Wang said a vehicle assigned to a single customer might make only two or three trips a day, leaving much of its capacity idle.

Fleet-based operations, by contrast, allow vehicles to be coordinated across a larger pool of delivery demand. The company leader noted that if vehicle capacity could be more fully utilized through citywide dispatching, 30,000 to 40,000 vehicles could potentially provide transport capacity now served by around 300,000 vehicles in a city — an estimate that, if borne out in practice, would point to lower vehicle requirements, as well as less pressure on urban traffic.

Vehicle utilization is another factor shaping the economics of the sector. Wang said autonomous vehicles sold directly to individual logistics users could be used for only two or three trips a day in some cases, again, leaving much of their capacity idle.

"Operation is the core of making vehicles valuable," he said, adding that citywide dispatching could allow vehicles to serve more delivery tasks and improve overall utilization.

According to the logistics operator, it currently has received preliminary orders for more than 8,000 vehicles and plans to expand into more than 40 cities next year, with the overall fleet expected to exceed 50,000 vehicles.