Research investment company Ark Invest (https://ark-invest.com/research/delivery-drones) reports that with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval Amazon delivery drones “could transport packages to more than 50 million people in roughly 30 minutes. The battery improvements we expect during the next five years could increase their reach to nearly 100 million people, or 30% of the US population.”
According to the company: “Amazon says that its drones can deliver packages weighing up to five pounds, accommodating 86% of the products it delivers today…an Amazon-like drone carrying a five-pound package could fly for 31 minutes given the energy density of batteries today…Thanks to an increase in specific energy, or watt hours per kilogram, new generations of lithium-ion batteries should weigh less, increasing the range for an Amazon-like drone from 10 miles today to 17 miles in 2022.”
“In December 2014, Amazon launched Prime Now in New York, offering delivery of its most frequently purchased items in less than an hour. Today, Prime Now is available in many densely populated cities in the US where Amazon has hubs…Based on our research, if it were to launch its drone delivery service from these Prime Now hubs today, Amazon could reach roughly 51 million people, or 16% of the U.S. population. With more energy dense batteries, the drones would be able to service nearly 100 million people, or 32% of the population, within the next five years, delivering a package profitably in fewer than 30 minutes for less than one dollar.”
(Image – Amazon Prime Air)
