Chinese driverless delivery van start-up sees demand surge amid coronavirus outbreak

The coronavirus has hurt many companies in China and around the world. Neolix, a driverless delivery business based in Beijing, is not among them – in fact, it has seen a jump in demand.

The start-up, which has attracted customers including Alibaba Group, Meituan Dianping and JD.com, has booked orders for more than 200 vehicles in the past two months; before then, it had only produced 125 units since manufacturing began last May, founder Yu Enyuan said in an interview.

Amid the virus anxiety that has disrupted businesses and supply chains, China’s push into autonomous transport and the future of delivery is getting an unexpected boost. Neolix’s small vans help customers reduce physical contact and address labour shortages caused by lingering quarantines and travel restrictions.

Neolix’s inventories have been depleted during the epidemic as its vehicles have been used to deliver medical supplies in hospitals, including in Wuhan, at the outbreak’s epicentre. Its vans are also being used to help disinfect streets and move food to people who are working on the front lines to curb the spread of the virus, Yu said.

“Demand has been surging since the virus outbreak and more importantly, people’s perception toward driverless delivery had a complete 180-degree shift,” Yu said. “People realise that such vehicles can get things done when it is risky for a human being to do so.”

Billionaire Jack Ma three years ago forecast China would have one billion deliveries a day within a decade and that commercialisation of driverless-courier technology could provide lessons for autonomous vehicles carrying passengers. Yet there have been restrictions for such vehicles to be used on open roads. During the unprecedented virus outbreak, regulatory barriers are being eased, as roads are empty.