Zero-occupant delivery vehicle startup Nuro has unveiled its third-generation electric and autonomous vehicle. The new flagship model, also called Nuro, is expected to help the company scale its services to millions of people across the U.S.

The new model is designed to carry more goods and enable more deliveries, with twice the cargo volume of the company’s second-generation vehicle. Its 27-ft³ (765-L) compartments combined can fit about 24 bags of groceries and handle almost 500 lb (227 kg). Modular inserts that fit inside the compartments allow for content heating and cooling, with a range of temps from 22°F to 116°F (-5°C to +47°C), which means sodas can stay cool and pizzas stay warm. The inserts can mix and match for new applications and experiences such as mobile marketplaces or hot coffee dispensing.

“Five years ago, we set out to build an autonomous vehicle and delivery service designed to run errands, giving people back valuable time,” said Dave Ferguson, Nuro Co-founder and President.“Through our strategic partnerships with Domino’s, FedEx, Kroger, 7-Eleven, and more, we are doing just that—improving road safety, sustainability, and overall access to goods delivery.

“We started with the insight that autonomous vehicles could replace local shopping trips as a much more sustainable, efficient, and frankly sensible way to get things,” recounted Ferguson, in a launch video for the third-generation vehicle. “We were convinced that the right path was to build an autonomous vehicle just for transporting goods, so we did.

“Along with a small team, we proudly introduced R1 to the world, and we used it to deliver groceries to some local residents in Scottsdale, AZ,” he continued. “R1 was incredibly exciting; it really felt like a glimpse into the future. But we also saw how we could make it even better, so we took the learnings from R1 and developed our second custom vehicle, R2.

R2 achieved several industry firsts, according to Ferguson.

“It was the first autonomous vehicle to operate driverless in three different states,” he said. “It was the first autonomous vehicle to be granted an exemption from the U.S. Department of Transportation. And as you may have heard, it completed the first autonomous pizza delivery to select customers in Houston, all while avoiding ‘the Noid’ (Domino’s animated mascot).

“But most importantly, R2 helped us learn even more; we determined what the ideal platform is for local goods transportation,” said Ferguson. “With the introduction of our new flagship model and the ground-breaking of our new production facility—one of the industry’s first end-of-line manufacturing facilities in America—we are excited about the opportunity to fulfill our vision of improving everyday life through autonomous delivery at scale.”

The new model will be produced in partnership with BYD North America and completed at Nuro’s new $40 million end-of-line manufacturing facility and closed-course test track in southern Nevada. The facilities have the capacity to manufacture and test tens of thousands of delivery vehicles per year to ensure they are ready for deployment.

BYD North America—part of one of the largest OEM networks of electric vehicles in the world—will assemble globally sourced hardware for the vehicle’s platform. Nuro will complete the final steps of manufacturing and make the autonomous vehicles ready for deployment.

“As one of the world’s leading electric vehicle manufacturers and a turnkey solution provider, BYD will leverage the manufacturing capacity of its Lancaster facility to support Nuro and bring more jobs to California,” said Stella Li, Executive Vice President of BYD Co. Ltd. and President of BYD Motors Inc.

Construction on the manufacturing facility officially kicked off in November. Nuro expects its southern Nevada facilities to be fully operational for AV manufacturing this year, creating an initial 250 highly skilled career opportunities with long-term growth potential in the AV industry.

Nuro also plans to expand its strategic partnerships with industry leaders. In 2021, the company announced a multi-year commitment with FedEx, introduced Chipotle as an investor partner, piloted delivery with Domino’s in Houston and with 7-Eleven in Mountain View, CA. Notably, it also formalized a commitment to leverage the company’s third-generation vehicle with grocery leader and long-standing partner/investor Kroger.

“As America’s largest grocer, Kroger formed a strategic collaboration with Nuro in 2018,” said Yael Cosset, Kroger’s Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer. “We continue to invest in the company as a testament to its industry-leading technology and our commitment to innovation. The third-generation vehicle launch is the latest expansion of this collaboration. We expect the roll-out will continue to delight customers looking for the freshest groceries, providing them with the convenience and value they expect from Kroger.”

Nuro’s latest Series D funding round, of $600 million closed in Q4 2021, was led by Tiger Global Management with participation from Baillie Gifford, Fidelity Management & Research Company, LLC, Gaorong Capital, Google, Kroger, SoftBank Vision Fund 1, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., Woven Capital, and other existing investors.

Nuro’s vehicles are designed for transporting goods and not passengers, and engineers have strengthened their focus on the safety of other road users—especially pedestrians and cyclists.

Safety enhancements include an external airbag to improve safety for pedestrians outside the vehicle as well as an upgraded sensing suite including cameras, radars, lidar, and thermal cameras to create a redundant 360-degree view of the world to keep track of its surroundings. In addition to being able to sense everything from the difference between a bundle of leaves and a pet to how many pedestrians are standing at a crosswalk in dense fog, the new model also has the ability to clean its sensors to maintain top operation throughout a day.

The vehicle is designed to safely operate in the same environment as all motor vehicles, allowing Nuro’s customers to serve a variety of geographies that experience various weather conditions throughout the year.

The new Nuro can reach a higher top operating speed of 45 mph (72 km/h), allowing it to reach more customers and serve more businesses on a wider variety of roads. The vehicle is designed for a full day of operation from a single charge. It is about 20% smaller in width than average passenger cars, that reduced footprint giving bicyclists and pedestrians more room to maneuver alongside the bot.

Like the previous generations, the new vehicle was designed to be non-threatening to other road users, feel like a friendly member of the community, and be fun to interact with. A large touchscreen allows the company to design new and engaging curbside commerce experiences such as mobile marketplaces.

The introduction of the new model furthers the company’s ongoing commitment to sustainability not only with fully electric vehicles but also in announcing it will use 100% renewable energy for all charging and facilities for the first time starting this month. It is getting its electricity from wind farms in Texas to power its fleet and reduce its overall carbon footprint.

“No matter where you see them, we want you to know that these vehicles are our beliefs in motion,” said Jiajun Zhu, Nuro CEO. “We believe that everyone deserves access to the things they need when they need them. We believe that getting the things you need shouldn’t harm the environment. Most importantly, we believe that our time should be spent less on the road and more on those we love.”

The company has released its first report covering the actions it has taken and its plans for greater sustainability. The company emphasizes that it employs industry best practices to manage an ethical and environmentally conscious supply chain—making sure its suppliers respect the personal dignity, privacy, and human rights of their workers.