Miss the Domino’s DXP? There’s a new quirky pizza delivery vehicle coming to Pizza Huts in California: the ElectraMeccanica Solo Cargo. The largest Pizza Hut franchisee in California, American West Restaurant Group, announced it will partner with ElectraMeccanica to buy a fleet of Solo Cargo delivery vehicles for its restaurants—and add a warm cargo box to keep your pizza toasty in transit.
While ElectraMeccanica’s announcement didn’t include any pictures of the Pizza Hut-branded fleet vehicles, this could end up being even weirder than the DXP. The ElectraMeccanica Solo Cargo is a single-seat, three-wheeled electric vehicle with a big cargo box on the back. While it’s a tiny vehicle compared to most cars, it’s plenty big for pizza deliveries. ElectraMeccanica claims it will fit up to 10 pizzas, two sides and four Coke bottles, which is enough to cover some 90 percent of American West Restaurant Group’s typical deliveries.
The vehicle itself may prove even more useful than the DXP at the end of the day. It has a very small footprint—barely larger than that of a motorcycle—which makes parking a breeze. ElectraMeccanica says each Solo Cargo can go up to 100 miles on a charge and hit a top speed of 80 mph.
Plus, as the DXP already demonstrated, having a vehicle on hand that’s made for deliveries makes the delivery person’s job much easier. Pizzas sit awkwardly on seats made for butts and floorboards that aren’t level, and they tend to slide around in a big trunk. The DXP proved that having a flat, roughly pizza-sized, temperature-controlled space is just so much better for getting a pizza to a customer’s door intact. Plus, having a company vehicle saves the delivery person the extra wear and tear on their car, which can eat up a frustrating chunk of delivery drivers’ pay when all is said and done.
The American West Restaurant Group has over 230 restaurants in California and Utah, but is starting relatively modest with a fleet of just 14 Solo Cargos destined for Pizza Huts in southern California. Here’s hoping the idea of a bespoke pizza delivery vehicle takes off again.
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