Here’s What Drone Deliveries Might Look Like in 2030
It’s already a busy time for delivery drones. They’ve been delivering medical supplies, food and all kinds of other products during the pandemic. Amazon is expected to launch its Prime Air fleet of drones soon, and companies continue to experiment with innovative new uses for these vehicles.
Current estimates say that there are about 20,000 drones buzzing around in the sky today. That number could rise to more than 1 million drones by 2026, according to a report by global research firm Gartner. Why? Because drones are highly efficient. Gartner reports that drones can deliver packages at costs that are 70% lower than vans.
What will drone deliveries look like in 10 years? It’s difficult to say for sure, but the team at Wikibuy illustrated some future drone predictions from experts in McKinsey & Company’s “Future of Parcel Delivery” report.
Perhaps one of the most interesting predictions is an army of drones contained within specialized delivery trucks. The truck would pull into a neighborhood and release the drones, which would deliver the packages. Of course, this would be more efficient because multiple drones could deliver the packages much more quickly than one delivery driver could. Additionally, this would cut down on some of the costs of drones having to travel long distances from far-away distribution centers.
Another interesting prediction is that there could be autonomous trucks or drones that constantly circulate within a neighborhood. These trucks and drones would contain parcel lockers mounted on top. Therefore, there would be moving parcel lockers within neighborhoods at all times in which you could quickly pick up and drop off packages.
Still, other experts predict that drones will begin to deliver more packages to the trunks of cars and also shorten the delivery window to rural areas. Check out the illustrated predictions below.
