Nuro is the state’s second company, after Waymo LLC, to be granted any type of “driverless permit,” DMV said Tuesday.
“The safety of the motoring public is the DMV’s top priority, and we do not give out these permits lightly,” DMV Director Steve Gordon said in a statement, indicating the company has met department requirements for testing on public roads. Among the takeaways:
• DMV authorized Nuro to test autonomous vehicles (AV) with “safety drivers” in 2017. The new permit lets it test two unmanned “light-duty delivery vehicles” in nine cities — only in good weather and at speeds up to 25 mph — on streets with posted speeds limits of no more than 35 mph, the agency said. The company is now allowed to test its R2 vehicles in parts of Santa Clara and San Mateo counties; and in parts of the cities of Atherton, East Palo Alto, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Menlo Park, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Sunnyvale and Woodside.
• Currently, 65 companies have permits from the DMV to test autonomous vehicles with a driver. The main distinction between the two permits is “the presence of the safety driver," Anita Gore, DMV’s deputy director of communications, told Techwire via email.
“For driverless testing, while a driver is not required in the test vehicle, manufacturers must remotely monitor the status and operation of the vehicle,” Gore said, pointing out that AVs with drivers may be tested anywhere in the state, while driverless testing is confined to prescribed areas. Nuro has two test vehicles on its new driverless permit, and 38 vehicles and 121 safety drivers on its earlier permit for testing with a driver. So-called “driverless” permits are good for two years; Nuro’s new permit expires April 30, 2022.
• Similar to state requirements for AV testing with a driver, Gore said, Nuro must report any test vehicle collision to DMV within 10 days and compile an annual report of “unplanned disengagements” — times when the vehicle’s autonomous mode is deactivated due to a failure of its technology or by its test driver for safety reasons. Reports on any such instances are public record and available on DMV’s website.
• Nuro will start testing in Mountain View, a company spokesperson told Techwire via email, noting the permit lets it “conduct deliveries with our local retail partners,” though none have yet been announced. Given California’s statewide stay-at-home order since March 19 in response to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, David Estrada, Nuro’s chief legal and policy officer, said Tuesday on Medium that the company “will be actively engaging in logistical planning for the day public roads testing can begin.” Its plan is to start service with free deliveries to customers in and around Mountain View; launch formal delivery in partnership with local brands and retailers; and eventually seek a “statewide commercial deployment permit.”
“We have always believed in the transformative power of autonomous vehicles, and in the climate of COVID-19 we understand their potential even more deeply. Putting our driverless R2 delivery vehicles on the road in California will be an important first for our company and the self-driving industry. But it is just a glimmer of what is to come,” Estrada said.
Nuro doesn’t have any partners in California state or local government, its spokesperson said, acknowledging that it’s the nation’s most populous state and therefore the largest delivery market, but said it “plans to partner with local retailers to conduct free customer deliveries.”
• Nuro now holds two of three types of DMV permits regulating autonomous vehicles weighing less than 10,001 pounds. The company will need the third type of permit — deployment for public or commercial use — to offer transportation or delivery service commercially outside of its testing program, Gore said. She noted that companies can’t charge fees to the public for either delivery or transportation services while testing autonomous technology. To date, no company has sought a deployment permit in California.
