DoorDash reveals launch timeframe for delivery drones in Northern California

Food delivery service users may soon have food flying, literally, to their doorstep.DoorDash unveiled its newest program Wednesday, DoorDash Air, which the company describes as an “end-to-end drone delivery system with infrastructure and delivery orchestration designed to scale for all local businesses.” The announcement comes exactly one year after the popular food delivery service unveiled its ground delivery robot Dot.The biggest news, opinion and culture shaping California right now.

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Never miss a story Trial runs of the drone deliveries will begin in the coming months in Northern California in partnership with national restaurant brands including Chipotle and Popeyes.The drone delivery program aims to combat the hardest part of autonomous delivery: the first and last ten feet.Picking up an order from a kitchen and laying it safely on the customer’s doorstep are the most challenging steps in the food delivery process, according to DoorDash.In its trial runs so far, the company has seen average delivery times from restaurant to residence in under five minutes.80% of today’s typical DoorDash restaurant orders are light and small enough to be carried safely by the aircraft, DoorDash says.“We didn’t start with a drone and ask what would fit.

We started with what people order and how local businesses actually operate, then built the entire system from there,” Harrison Shih, head of DoorDash Air, wrote in the company’s announcement. DoorDash co-founder Stanley Tang has been frequently posting about the new delivery method on X.Tang wrote “As a pilot, I can tell you that you wouldn’t build a plane and then ask if it can carry cargo,” addressing the company’s plan in designing from the ground up.The aircrafts have six slow-spinning propellers and their noise projection is “limited to rough...