Loading goods onto the Zelos Z10 at Fairprice Group's Benoi distribution centre. Photo: Fairprice Group
FairPrice Group (FPG) has received approval from the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to conduct trials using autonomous vehicles on public roads to transport goods between FPG’s distribution centres.
According to FPG, they are the first organisation in Singapore to receive such approval. This is part of a partnership between FPG and Zelos Technology to incorporate autonomous driving vehicles into FPG’s fleet to boost productivity and reduce the company’s carbon footprint.
Vipul Chawla, FPG Group CEO, said:
These public road trials are the culmination of many months of hard work from our teams and partners to break new ground on the use of autonomous vehicles in Singapore. By integrating autonomous vehicles into our supply chain operations, we aim to improve our productivity, reduce our carbon footprint, and ultimately make every day a little better for our customers, our people, and the planet.
The trial will see FPG use Zelos Z10 transport vehicles to transport goods between its Benoi and Joo Koon distribution centres. The Zelos Z10 are fully autonomous vehicles with a load capacity of up to 1.5 tonnes and a range of up to 210km.
The Z10 is the first fully driverless autonomous vehicle designed for the logistics sector to receive LTA’s M1 permit, the required license for autonomous vehicles to operate on public roads.
The trial consists of two phases. The first phase, which started on 18 October, will see autonomous vehicles go through daily and nightly test drives with an accompanying safety vehicle. Once these test drives satisfy LTA’s requirements, the trial can proceed to the second phase, which consists of day and night test drives without the safety vehicle.
Once the trial is completed, FPG will be the first in Singapore to use autonomous vehicles to transport cargo on public roads without human supervision.
This initiative is also part of FPG's ongoing efforts to expand its EV fleet. The group hopes to have over 30 EVs by the end of this year.
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