Alphabet's drone delivery company, Wing, is really starting to take off (pun intended). While Wing already delivers packages in multiple countries, weight has been a limiting factor. The company's latest drone should help solve that.
Wing's current lineup of drones is already pretty impressive. They can deliver packages up to six miles away (for a round trip of 12 miles) and travel at 65 miles per hour. But they can only haul a 2.5 pound package, which means for many deliveries, Wing needs to send multiple drones to fulfill an entire order. Despite that, Wing says it has completed over 350,000 deliveries.
Wing's new drone is capable of the same 12-mile round trip and can even reach the same top speed of 65mph. But this one can pick up a 5-pound package, double the other drone model. That should let Wing accomplish more deliveries with fewer drones.
Wing currently works with Walmart in the US for deliveries, and supplies like deodorant and shampoo can add up pretty quickly. The older drone model isn't going away, though. Wing likens its choice to how airliners and delivery companies like UPS maintain multiple vehicle types to fit the best scenario. For a shorter trip with a lighter package, it makes sense to send the smaller drone, freeing up the new drone for larger deliveries. We've already seen prototypes for other potential drone models, including one specializing in very small packages, such as medications.
Drone deliveries weren't possible at all until recent regulation changes. Historically, those regulations required drone operators to keep line of sight with the drone. If you couldn't see it, it wasn't allowed to fly. That made drone deliveries impossible: an observer would have had to follow the drone to the target location. At that point, you could hire a delivery driver instead. However, several companies, including Wing, managed to secure permission from the Federal Aviation Administration to complete deliveries without line of sight. But even then, most of Wing's deliveries currently happen in Australia: we have a long way to go before the average person will see a drone show up in their yard with their latest Amazon purchase.