Northwest Arkansas is an exciting place as it is the testing ground for the latest technological advancements in the world of autonomous vehicles. Given how friendly the region is towards startups, Canoo has set up its base of operations here.
Walmart and Canoo are working together in Bentonville, northwest Arkansas, to improve last-mile delivery. Canoo sold over 20,000 vehicles, which corporations will use to deliver products to the customer’s doorstep. It gives a glimpse of the future, showing what it will be like with autonomous cars.
If you’d like to know what Walmart and Canoo are up to in Bentonville, northwest Arkansas, and all the interesting technology that corporations are developing here, read on!
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What’s Happening Between Walmart and Canoo?
Let’s start by talking about what Canoo is and why they’re essential to northwest Arkansas.
If you don’t know what Canoo is, they’re an electric vehicle manufacturer. They compete with the likes of Tesla, Lucid, Chevrolet, Ford, and other electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers in the country. You can think of them as an up-and-coming EV manufacturer.
Initially, they were based in Dallas before moving their headquarters to Bentonville, Arkansas. Also, they manufacture all their vehicles in Pryor, Oklahoma.
The reason they’ve decided to change their setup was because of the Oklahoma turnpike. The turnpike gives Canoo direct access to Route 412 in Northwest Arkansas, which helps streamline their operations. Also, they stand to benefit from the startup culture in this region and everything it has to offer.
Canoo is a little different from other EV manufacturers because they have a platform model. You can buy any EV model of Canoo and then customize it as per your requirements.
For example, you can remove the vehicle’s top from the chassis and add new cars. Think of it as a platform on which you can build your vehicle rather than just having a standalone car.
Canoo is a lifestyle vehicle. In the last couple of months, they pre-sold over 20,000 vehicles, out of which 10,000 are to Walmart. Other major businesses that purchased these cars maintain a fleet of vehicles for running their operations.
One of the reasons Walmart has been buying these electric cars is to test remote deliveries in northwest Arkansas.
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Walmart is Using Canoo’s Electric Cars
During the Northwest Arkansas (NWA) Technology Summit, Walmart discussed its plans to go fully autonomous in its delivery system, i.e., no drivers.
They also demonstrated the utility of these electric vehicles by using them for remote deliveries. Despite not having any driver behind the wheel, they’ve been able to drop off food at people’s homes.
Currently, they’re testing this project with electric vehicles from a different manufacturer. However, there are rumors that Alice Walton is a major investor in the firm that invested in Canoo. This investment is probably one reason why Walmart is showing significant interest in this company and its ventures.
Although connectivity is one of the factors why Canoo chose Bentonville in northwest Arkansas, there’s another reason why they decided to set up in this region.
J.B. Hunt, Tyson, and Walmart are all companies that operate in this region, and they’ve made considerable investments to optimize and improve their supply chain.
As these companies move large quantities of product through this area, it makes sense that Canoo also decided to establish their base here in Northwest Arkansas.
There is no better testing ground for autonomous cars than a location like this, where many corporations are establishing themselves. Also, there are several startups here that attract a lot of investors. In fact, Walmart is one of the biggest investors in this area.
Moreover, Walmart used a Canoo electric vehicle to make deliveries quite recently. Although this was a manned vehicle, it was only a showcase of what to expect in the future.
I can guarantee that Walmart will eventually push for autonomous driving technology in Canoo’s electric cars.
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What Does the Future of Deliveries Look Like?
Big corporations like J.B. Hunt, Tyson, and Walmart are trying to figure out how to best deliver products at the last mile.
Think of it like this; they want to move products from their base, a Walmart store. The final destination is their customers’ homes, who purchased these products.
On my YouTube channel, I’ve discussed how Walmart used drones to deliver products in Drone Up. I also talked about how drones are like planes taking off from Walmart and dropping products into people’s homes. You can watch that video here on YouTube.
The benefit of autonomous vehicles over drones is the volume of deliveries. Due to the drone’s size, they can carry only so much weight at a time. The volume won’t be a problem with autonomous vehicles.
With these types of cars, you don’t need drivers to drive the vehicle to the customer’s house. Instead, the AI technology allows them to drive to your doorstep and complete the delivery, find a charging station to recharge, and continue delivering. Once the autonomous vehicle finishes all its daily deliveries, it will return to the Walmart store like magic.
If you spend time in Bentonville, northwest Arkansas, you’ll notice in a short time that it looks like the future around here. You’ll see Walmart’s autonomous vehicles driving and going about their day, despite not having any human drivers. Walmart’s interest clearly shows that the future is in autonomous vehicles.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, Northwest Arkansas is pushing the boundaries of technology. Although they’re not the only ones to do it, they’ve been putting in a lot of work to stay ahead and try to change the world by supporting businesses that share a similar vision.
Moreover, whatever they’re doing here will be available for people all over the world, not just northwest Arkansas. It’s really cool to see what’s up and coming from different corporations here, so keep an eye out for the technological advancements from the north of Arkansas!