It seems that Amazon is not the only company that’s looking to deploy delivery drones. Mercedes-Benz is also in the process of testing drones to ship packages. According to company representatives, their mini-aircraft were able to complete 100 different drop offs to several vans all over Zurich, safely and without any incidents.

Most of the recipients placed their orders through Siroop, a popular Swiss online shopping platform. Once their orders were placed, they chose airmail deals from among the selected items of their chosen retailers for same-day delivery. Their orders were then dispatched through delivery drones to four different points in the city that covered a distance of around 11 miles.

The drones delivered their packages from the roofs of specially designed Mercedes-Benz Vito vans. The parcels are then transported by vehicle for the rest of the way, while the drones return to perform their next deliveries.

These drones managed to deliver parcels for a total of 11 days as part of their tests, and Mercedes-Benz representatives report that all their expectations were met during and after the tests. They also reported that their drones received perfect safety scores from observers.

Mercedes-Benz’s new delivery drones are intended to compliment the rising trend of online retail by providing e-commerce businesses with a cheaper and more environmentally friendly way to deliver their products to online buyers. Amazon and 7-Eleven’s drone tests are already well-known and Mercedes-Benz’s drone tests are just one more example of the rising popularity of delivery drones for retailers.

However, Mercedes’ new delivery drones are more than just pilotless UAVs. They are also components of a new type of van. This new van is designed to reduce the cost of parcel deliveries with the help of a delivery drone. Although the drones can’t deliver anything to a customer’s doorsteps, they are able to skip most of the inner city traffic, which reduces most of the time and cost related to parcel deliveries.

Also, it’s worth mentioning that the drones’ pre-planned flight paths and destinations make them safer and less of a problem for legislators who are concerned about the safety. The fact that they only go to those places where their vans are parked makes them less of a liability compared to other delivery drones.  Despite their safety features, however, the fate of Mercedes’ new drones still depends on future regulation.

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