Ford and Domino’s are testing self-driving pizza delivery in Michigan

Ford and Domino’s are coming together to to test self-driving pizza delivery cars in Michigan, as part of an effort to better understand how customers respond to and interact with autonomous vehicles.

“How will customers react to coming outside to get their food?” Domino’s president Russell Weiner said in a statement, “We need to make sure the interface is clear and simple.”

For the next few weeks, randomly selected Domino’s customers will get the option to have their pie brought over by a modified Ford Fusion Hybrid, complete with the roof mounted whirring “coffee can” sensors and plenty of “research vehicle” stickers.

The delivery vehicles initially will be piloted by human drivers. Customers will be able to track the delivery process via GPS and will receive text messages on how to retrieve their pizzas once the delivery vehicle has arrived.

Ford is testing self-driving cars on public roads in other places but this test is really about customer acceptance of the technology, not whether the car can drive itself.

“We’re interested to learn what people think about this type of delivery,” Russell Weiner added. “The majority of our questions are about the last 50 feet of the delivery experience.”