Optimus Ride is testing its self-driving vehicles and delivering meals at Paradise Valley Estates, a retirement community in California. This information is fully over a year old but somehow it slipped past my radar.
It makes sense that a self-driving operation would test in a retirement community — there’s a natural geofence, the speed limits are low, and there is a built-in customer base.
But until now this particular niche seemed only to be approached by Voyage, who has made this central to their development strategy.
Voyage’s deployment at The Villages in Florida is on a vastly different scale than Paradise Valley Estates: 25,000 acres in Florida vs. 80 acres in California.
But from a business perspective, the characteristics are at least broadly similar.
I wonder if eventually bidding wars will break out to serve these communities, similar to what you might see with National Park concessionaires.
David Silver 