Chinese e-commerce marketplace JD.com has sent more than 100 autonomous delivery vehicles to Shanghai to be used for the last-mile delivery of PPE and various customer orders.
The entire city of Shanghai has been under strict lockdown since April 5 as part of China’s latest ‘Zero-Covid’ strategy. The vehicles can carry up to 200kg of goods and drive 100km on a single charge, providing much needed supplies to mobile cabin hospitals and communities under lockdown.
Around 50 indoor delivery robots developed by JD Logistics will also be transported to Shanghai to support the delivery of meals and nucleic acid test samples in the mobile cabin hospitals. With AI technology and multiple sensors, the robots can recognize and avoid obstacles, plan their routes automatically and drive on public roads without human interaction. They can also be monitored and taken over remotely.
JD had previously announced that it would provide 16 million items of daily necessities to Shanghai residents, including rice, flour and cooking oil. Additionally, more than 2,000 JD couriers have travelled to Shanghai to support local supply chains.
