While vehicle dealers might expect to receive ‘on the spot’ orders, news that an operator placed an order at the show for a “small number” of automated ‘pods’ took some observers by surprise.
Details of the operator and location are not being disclosed ahead of a formal agreement, but the news comes as a boost to the project, which already has an order for 200 pods for South Korea.
During the show a number of serious enquiries from operators were received, mainly about using pods to connect existing bus networks with destinations, such as shopping centres, where they the self-navigating pods can already be used without additional legislation.
