The Delivery SDV: Rivian Spinoff 'Also' and DoorDash Partner on Autonomy
Rivian spinoff 'Also' has secured $200 million in funding, led by DoorDash, to develop autonomous delivery vehicles. This partnership signals a shift toward specialized, software-defined fleets tailored for the last-mile logistics industry.
The boundaries of the Software-Defined Vehicle (SDV) are expanding into the specialized world of logistics. 'Also,' a spinoff from EV-maker Rivian, recently announced a $200 million funding round with significant participation from DoorDash. This investment is more than a financial injection; it is a strategic alignment to build autonomous delivery vehicles from the ground up, optimized for the specific software needs of a gig-economy giant.
In the SDV paradigm, the vehicle's hardware becomes a flexible platform for software-driven services. For DoorDash, this means an autonomous fleet that can integrate directly with their logistics algorithms, managing temperature-controlled compartments, route optimization, and even customer interaction via on-board interfaces. By decoupling the hardware from the software, Also can iterate on the vehicle's functionality through over-the-air updates, ensuring the fleet remains efficient as delivery demands evolve.
This move highlights a growing trend where the 'car' is no longer the product, but the 'platform' is. As delivery volumes continue to climb, software-defined autonomous fleets represent the only viable path to sustainable, high-margin last-mile logistics.
Source: TechCrunch
