Walmart invests in all-electric self-driving firm Cruise

Walmart US president and CEO John Furner has announced his retail giant’s investment in San Francisco-based all-electric self-driving company Cruise.

The CEO said Walmart had been doing a lot over the years to learn more about the part self-driving vehicles can play in retail.

“and we’ve seen enough to know it’s no longer a question of if they’ll be scaled, but when,” said Furner.

The investment will help develop a scalable, affordable and quick last mile delivery ecosystem, he added.

In its press release, Cruise said that several institutional investors as well as Walmart have joined the all-electric self-driving company’s previously announced investment round. Cruise said the total capital raised is now $2.75 billion at a valuation of over $30 billion.

Cruise CEO Dan Ammann said, “Self-driving cars will make transportation safer, cleaner and more accessible for everyone. Making this happen requires a clear mission, world-class talent, great partners and a lot of capital.”

Cruise and Walmart started working together in November last year. The collaboration involved a delivery pilot in Scottsdale, Arizona.

“We’ve been impressed with Cruise’s differentiated business model, unique technology and unmatched driverless testing,” said Furner. “We also value our shared commitment to a zero emissions future.”

Cruise’s all-electric fleet of vehicles is powered by 100% renewable energy. The company announced becoming the first self-driving company to power vehicles with 100% renewable energy in April last year.

Walmart has set a goal to be powered by 100% renewable energy by 2035 and is targeting zero emissions in its operations by 2040, said Furner, adding that the ecommerce behemoth is doing this throughout the supply chain and its environmental initiative called Project Gigaton, which is one of the largest private sector consortiums for climate action.

“We’re excited to join Cruise’s already impressive partner and investor ecosystem with the likes of GM, Honda and Microsoft as we work toward pioneering this emerging technology,” said Furner further about the investment in Cruise.

General Motors (GM) completed its acquisition of Cruise in mid 2016, Honda joined Cruise’s ecosystem of investors and partners in October of 2018 and Microsoft teamed up with GM and Cruise in January this year.