Pizza Hut and Toyota to create self-driving delivery vehicles

Plano, TX – Pizza Hut will work with Toyota to create a self-driving pizza delivery vehicle and improvements to existing driving and delivery.

Toyota displayed designs of a concept vehicle called e-Palette at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Jan. 8.

Toyota’s proprietary Mobility Services Platform will be used to develop connected mobility software and hardware, and a flexible, autonomous vehicle. Toyota plans to start testing the e-Palette vehicle in several regions, including the U.S., as early as 2020, the pizza chain said in a news release.

For Pizza Hut, the e-Palette solution could support the company’s delivery business in the future or serve as a mobile kitchen in areas of the world where there is demand.

Pizza Hut is one of the founding members of a new “mobility service business alliance” that also includes Amazon, Didi, Mazda and Uber, according to the release.

Pizza Hut and Toyota also will immediately begin working on plans to improve existing driving and delivery. The companies will jointly test dual communication technology in Pizza Hut delivery vehicles to capture data on driver patterns and behaviour.

Pizza Hut recently carried out several other delivery initiatives, including an algorithm that improves the accuracy and reliability of deliveries, pouches able to keep pizzas up to 15 degrees hotter and a pilot test of beer and wine delivery in the U.S.