Uber Eats Says Drone Deliveries Coming To San Diego In 2020

If it’s UPS, FedEx, and or Amazon, or maybe even food delivery companies, they’re all gravitating towards adopting drones for last-mile deliveries.

UPS has undoubtedly embraced the focus of last-mile logistics by incorporating drones over the last several years.

Now it seems like Uber Eats, an online food ordering and delivery platform — launched by ride-hailing company Uber, is the next company to utilize drones for delivering goods from businesses to consumers. 

The company is expected to launch the new drone delivery service in the San Diego Metropolitan area in 2H20. 

On Oct. 28, Uber tweeted a rendering of the Uber Eats drone, a six-rotor drone that is capable of carrying two meals in its body. 

Is it a bird? Is it a plane?

No, it’s our new @UberEats Elevate drone design. pic.twitter.com/RpkJbDx2db

— Uber (@Uber) October 28, 2019

The drone has the capability of traveling up to 18 miles or 12 miles round-trip at an altitude of about 400 feet. 

From the restaurant (staging area) to the drop-off point, the company estimates delivery times to the customer will be around eight minutes, including the time to load and unload the meals.

Several pilot tests of the new service were conducted in 2018. A McDonald’s near San Diego State University was the site of one of the tests.

Uber Eats has spent that last year perfecting the design of the drone. The one seen in the rendered picture tweeted by Uber is expected to be the final design.

More elaborate test flights are slated for the next several months, as it’s expected the new service will launch in San Diego by summer 2020.