Future Ford AVs Could Pick Up And Deliver Fast Food

March 25, 2024 12:52 pm

Ford Motor Company has filed a patent for an autonomous pickup and delivery feature that may be used in future Ford autonomous vehicles (AVs), Ford Authority has learned.

The patent was filed on September 11^th, 2023, published on March 21^st, 2024, and assigned serial number 0095657.

The Ford Authority Take

Even though Ford decided to shut down Argo AI – a commercial autonomous vehicle technology company that it invested heavily in – back in 2022, it continues to work on developing self-driving tech, regardless. Aside from filing a patent for a drive-thru driver assistance system recently, the automaker has also used autonomous vehicles to deliver food to residents of Detroit, all after partnering with Walmart for an AV delivery service in select U.S. cities, too. Now, this newly filed patent gives us another potential glimpse at an autonomous service, this time, one that could deliver fast food to us at some point in the future.

In recent years, third-party food delivery services have grown tremendously, typically enabling customers to place an order via an app or website, after which a human driver picks up the food and delivers it – all for a fee, plus usually a tip for the driver. However, Ford envisions a future in which no human may be needed to complete this process at all, if the system outlined in this patent does in indeed come to fruition.

If that’s the case, after an order is received, the system would deploy an autonomous vehicle to the restaurant, where an employee would place the food inside of a delivery cube located in the vehicle. The AV would then take that food to the customer – providing them with updates along the way. Once the vehicle arrives at the customer’s residence, they’ll be instructed to use an app to access the inside and retrieve their food – an interesting spin on a popular existing service, indeed.

We’ll have more on this and all Ford patents soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for the latest Ford patent news, Ford business news, and comprehensive Ford news coverage.

By Brett Foote

Brett's lost track of all the Fords he's owned over the years and how much he's spent modifying them, but his current money pits include an S550 Mustang and 13th gen F-150.