Faction Starts Driverless Deliveries in San Francisco Bay Area

The driverless technology startup uses electric vehicles based on three-wheel EV platforms from Arcimoto and ElectraMeccanica.

Faction Technology, a driverless-technology startup focusing on micro-logistics and vehicles on demand, announced it is bringing driverless delivery to portions of the San Francisco Bay Area.

The company will make automated deliveries for Cocola Bakery to customers around the metro region using lightweight, electric vehicles based on three-wheel EV platforms from Arcimoto and ElectraMeccanica. Faction has made regular deliveries to the bakery’s customers since July and is now looking to add more customers in the coming months.

The company’s vehicle fleet combines autonomy with remote human teleoperation to carry out its deliveries, enabled by Faction’s DriveLink and TeleAssist technologies fitted to the vehicles. These technologies allow Faction to provide businesses with a delivery service that seamlessly delivers goods via a driverless fleet in an affordable, safe, and predictable way. 

“Cocola Bakery and our customers have been ecstatic with the services Faction has provided us so far. We are now able to quickly, affordably, and reliably deliver our products to customers around the Bay Area, something we couldn’t easily accomplish before due to inconsistent gig-worker services.”

Amir Aliabadi, CEO of Cocola Bakery

Gallery: Faction Technology’s Driverless Three-Wheel EVs

Faction says it will use this initial launch to continue developing the technology powering its remote and driverless delivery solutions. 

New customer routes are covered by vehicles using safety drivers, in addition to being supervised by TeleAssist operators. System performance and road data are collected during every delivery to help Faction consistently improve its technology and further expand its services for Cocola Bakery and future customers.

“Our partnership with Cocola is just the beginning of what we have planned for Faction. We’re achieving our cost and delivery targets while securing the data necessary to bring Faction and our technology to more partners in the coming year.”

Faction CEO, Ain McKendrick

The executive added that the next phase is to make Faction services available to additional commercial customers in the Bay Area, including restaurant chains, hardware stores, auto parts stores, and others. Faction is currently opening up driverless delivery for other partners in the San Francisco Bay Area starting at under $2 per mile.