Designers: Ben Julian, Nuro Design Team, Nuro Inc., Mountain View, California, USA
Manufacturer: Nuro Inc., Mountain View, California, USA
Because the vehicle's exterior is entirely void of transparent glass or a "belt line," lower cladding visually breaks up the relatively tall body color, the front cap's dark "windshield" provides context as to its directionality.
This also provides proportional familiarity with other on-road vehicles, one of the most challenging aspects of an affordable and safe delivery-only vehicle. Nuro's headlamp "eyes" are low and determined, located within a visual cue of the safety visor of a race helmet.
The design team's overall aesthetic drivers for both the exterior and interior were functional integration, minimizing appendages, and keeping the users' focus away from the sensors and onto the delight of clutterless touchless delivery at home. Nuro is a zero-occupant autonomous vehicle designed for last-mile goods delivery.
the vehicles deliver the things people need—from produce to prescriptions—from neighborhood businesses to substantially reduce community dependence on passenger cars.
By utilizing the zero-occupant autonomous vehicles to deliver goods, communities can experience safer roads, more equitable access, cleaner air, and more time back that would have otherwise been spent on running errands.
Nuro presents a solution to several current issues: firstly, road fatalities, which have been steadily increasing year over year. Zero-occupant vehicles decrease the number of vehicle occupants at risk of injury on the roadways, mitigate crash severity due to improved pedestrian protection, and reduce the probability of crashes due to a narrow design. Safety is the top priority, from design to deployment.
Secondly, with a goods-only design, the designers can empower local businesses. This is important because, even in the age of e-commerce, 86% of shopping is still local. The fundamental problem with the current model for local shopping is that it requires people to both have cars and to drive those cars often. Nuro eliminates the need for a car to access the goods necessary for daily life.
