Mercedes-Benz Vans teamed up with drone manufacturer Matternet to create what they're calling the "Vision Van", a vehicle that will be able to receive and deliver packages in otherwise inaccessible areas, facilitating with equal ease the transport of blood samples coming from distant African villages or Amazon packages going to remote rural communities.
Mercedes-Benz is looking at mounting automated flying drones onto a new line of electric vans as part of a 500 million-euro ($562 million) investment aimed at speeding delivery times for online orders.
The M2 quadcopter is completely autonomous, can carry cargo weighing up to 2 kg (4.4 lb) and fly up to 20 km (12 mi) on a single charge.
In its most successful August in its 100-year-plus history, German premium carmaker Mercedes Benz sold a remarkable 156,246 cars worldwide.
When it comes to making the concept of delivery drones a reality, using vans to handle the brunt of the work is an idea that has some merit.
The fact that this is just a concept vehicle aside, its unlikely we'll see the Vision Van hit the road anytime soon.
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Meanwhile, the automaker is also planning a so-called Robovan with Starship, which makes six-wheeled autonomous delivery robots that are already being tested in London.
A key cog in Mercedes' adVANce wheel is the solutions side of the plan - where drones and robots are incorporated into fully automated cargo management systems.
The small pilotless aircraft would be part of a suite of on-board systems, including digital sorting equipment, that could cut both costs and delivery times in half for the final portion of a package's journey, the carmaker said Wednesday at a presentation in Stuttgart, Germany.
The sleekly-styled Vision Van features an all-electric powertrain. One example is developing a telematics unit for vans which collects and processes data concerning the status of the delivery tour, the present location and the load, and sends this information to the distribution manager. Selling 321,000 such vehicles in 2015, the company has a wide range of brands fitting different van niches. Daimler-owned Mercedes-Benz Vans, which makes the popular Sprinter, has the manufacturing know-how, global reach, and capital to capitalize on demand for faster delivery.
The moves make sense as a way to improve the efficiency of the "last mile" of delivery networks.
To boost mobility, Mercedes-Benz Vans is also working on on-demand leasing, rental and sharing models tailored to the needs of van customers. The popularity of the Drone delivery concept is an Unexpected turn of events.
