Alibaba’s online food service, Ele.me has just been cleared to deliver food orders using drones at the Jinshan Industrial Park in Shanghai.
First reported by the South China Morning Post, 17 routes in the industrial park were approved and customers will be able to receive their orders in just 20 minutes. The drones will deliver the orders to and from two fixed locations, according to the regulations given. Personnel will be responsible for placing deliveries in the drones’ cargo hold and bringing the orders to customers once the drone has reached the designated delivery point. The report also says there will be no additional charges for customers who use the drones for their deliveries.
The drones used will be Ele.me’s E7 drones, which can hold over 6 kilograms worth of payload at a speed of 65 kph at a distance of 20 kilometers.
