Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Cars
  3. News

Packages can now be delivered directly to your car with Daimler’s Smart ‘Ready to Drop’

By

daimler smart ready to drop
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Next up, package delivery to your car. Daimler AG is focused on finding ways to make people’s vehicular lives easier. The company’s newest test program, Smart Ready to Drop, starts this month in Stuttgart. Specially equipped Smart cars can now receive parcels for customers, according to Daimler.

The purpose of the Ready to Drop program is to help online shoppers save time. Four components involved in the program include properly equipped Smart cars, online retailers enrolled in the program, people who own the configured Smart cars and shop online, and a delivery service.

Recommended Videos

The last and current generation Smart Fortwo and Fourfour cars can be retrofitted with a special Connectivity Box for the Ready to Drop program. Starting this fall, Smart buyers will be able to specify the Connectivity Kit as an option.

Online retailers Amazon, Allyouneed Fresh, and Fashion ID have already signed on for the program, according to Daimler. Deliveries in the Ready to Drop program are made by the DHL parcel service.

Here’s how it works. When a shopper in the program makes an online purchase from an enrolled online retailer, they specify their Smart car as the delivery address via a smartphone application. A delivery transaction number is generated during the online checkout process.

The shopper then parks the car near their home address. Cars cannot be parked in a garage because the delivery service will not be able to find them.

DHL delivery personnel will drive to the car’s location, use the transaction code on a smartphone app to unlock the car’s luggage compartment, and put the parcel in the compartment. Finally, the driver uses the same code to lock the trunk again. The delivery driver cannot finish the delivery transaction process until the trunk is re-locked.

For the first few months, the test will be confined to Stuttgart, but then will expand to Berlin and Cologne. Other cities will follow. Smart owners in Stuttgart, Berlin, and Cologne who’d like to participate in the Smart Ready to Drop program can get more information here.

According to Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars Dr. Dieter Zetsche, “We are working intensively on the question of how cars can help make people’s lives easier. If the car receives parcels customers have more time to do things they really enjoy.”

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Bruce Brown
Bruce Brown
Contributing Editor
Digital Trends Contributing Editor Bruce Brown is a member of the Smart Homes and Commerce teams. Bruce uses smart devices…
Mercedes-Benz G580 first drive: old-school off-roader goes electric
2025 Mercedes-Benz G580 from three quarter view.

American car buyers mostly know Mercedes-Benz as a luxury brand. But for decades, the automaker has also produced the tough, rugged G-Class (also known as the Geländewagen or G-Wagen), an SUV not afraid to get its leather upholstery muddy. And now, this iconic Mercedes is going electric.

The 2025 Mercedes-Benz G580 with EQ Technology — the final name of the SUV previously known as the EQG — isn’t the first electric off-roader. The Rivian R1S and R1T and GMC Hummer EV have proven that electric powertrains and off-roading are a great combination. But the electric G-Wagen is different because it’s based on an internal-combustion model — and a very traditional one at that.

Read more
Honda believes hydrogen semi trucks will make the case for fuel cells
Honda hydrogen fuel-cell semi truck.

Honda remains committed to hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, but the market for those vehicles remains limited. So Honda is looking at other uses for fuel cells -- including commercial trucks.

To show how that could work, Honda converted a semi truck to fuel-cell power, replacing its diesel engine with three fuel-cell modules. Together, the three modules produce a combined 321 horsepower, and can propel the truck to a top speed of 70 mph. There's enough onboard hydrogen storage capacity for a 400-mile range with a full load, Honda claims.

Read more
Mercedes-Benz G580 vs Rivian R2: Is the much cheaper Rivian actually better?
2025 Mercedes-Benz G580 from three quarter view.

Mercedes-Benz has finally taken the wraps off of the new "Mercedes-Benz G580 with EQ Technology." Yeah, it's a mouthful, but it's basically a new electric G-Wagon. It looks a lot like the G-Wagon you know and love, but with an electric powertrain and a battery. It's not the only electric SUV out there, however, and there are some great ones -- like the Rivian R2.

Both the Mercedes G580 and the Rivian R2 have a lot going for them, but they also approach the electric SUV slightly differently. Is one better than the other? I put the two head-to-head to find out.
Design
The approach that the two vehicles take to design is quite different -- and you might like one better than the other.

Read more