Autonomous Deliveries & Car Insurance Rebates
COVID-19 may you have parked inside, but autonomous vehicles are pulling up for deliveries in parts of California.
Pony AI is typically a robotaxi service, moving people instead of products. But they’ve switched gears and have deployed their fleet of modified Hyundai Kona battery-electric cars to deliver packages and groceries in Irvine. Teaming up with e-commerce site Yamibuy, deliveries will go straight to a customers driveway. There will be a safety driver in the vehicle, who can either drop off the packages on the doorstep or the customer can get them from the trunk of the car.
Since we’re all staying home these days, there are fewer cars on the roads, which means fewer accidents, which means fewer insurance claims and that equals money back into your pocket.
Major insurance companies are offering rebates to customers on their auto policies. While it varies from company to company, state farm customers, for example, can expect to see a 25 percent policy credit, on average. In most cases, credits will be applied automatically, but to find out what your insurance company is offering, you can give your local agent a call.
Mazda wants to say “thank you” to healthcare workers with a free oil change, regardless if they own a Mazda or not.
From April 16th to May 4th, any active healthcare worker can take their vehicle to a participating Mazda dealership and get a free oil change and enhanced cleaning of their vehicle. This offer is not just for Mazda owners, but is available for most makes and models from other manufacturers too. All you have to do is show proof of your occupation, such as an employee ID badge, to redeem the offer.
And Mazda isn’t the only one giving back, Porsche just auctioned off a piece of its history to provide for Coronavirus relief.
The last-ever 991 generation 911 Speedster rolled off the production line in December and hit the online auction block in mid-April, selling for a whopping 500,000 dollars! Porsche matched that amount, making a 1 million dollar donation to United Way Worldwide’s covid-19 community response and recovery fund. No details on the buyer, but whoever they are, they also get a trip to Germany for a behind-the-scenes tour of the Porsche Development Center and test track.
A whole lot of money raised for a good cause and that does it for this week’s Motor News update.