*RoboVans have autonomously delivered thousands of orders in China. Source: Neolix

While Western companies are competing to create futuristic self—driving cars, the Chinese startup Neolix operates on the principle of "you drive more quietly, you will continue." Their autonomous vans look modest, but they already transport goods in 40 cities around the world. Raising $600 million is not an ambitious startup, but a confident scaling of proven technology that changes the logistics of the last mile without too much fuss.

Why did success come to those who didn't pursue beauty?

Neolix did not try to create a car for passengers. Instead, they focused on the most boring but profitable niche — the delivery of small goods. Their vans resemble smart refrigerators on wheels, and there's an ingenious simplicity to it.

"We have created not just a vehicle, but a mobile logistics hub," explains Yu En, the company's founder.

The advantage of this approach is obvious:

The cost of one delivery van is comparable to a courier's salary for a year.

Energy consumption is 10 times lower than that of an electric car

Flexibility — the van can operate 24/7 without interruptions

Where do these vans find their use?

Surprisingly, the most sought-after areas turned out to be far from food delivery:

Smart Cities

In Singapore, Neolix vans transport equipment for servicing urban infrastructure. They travel around the facilities on their own, delivering tools to the workers.

University campuses

In Beijing, autonomous vans deliver books between libraries and academic buildings, saving students time.

Industrial parks

In Germany, they transport parts between workshops, working on a precise schedule without human intervention.

"The key advantage is predictability. The robo—van always arrives on time and never gets sick," the logisticians note.

How does this humble worker work?

Technologically, Neolix has made some wise compromises:

Speed

The maximum speed of 25 km/h is enough for a city, but not enough to create dangerous situations.

Sensors

Affordable lidars and cameras are used instead of expensive sensor arrays.

Management

Remote control by the control center in difficult areas instead of full autonomy

"We're not aiming for 100% autonomy — we're aiming for 100% reliability," the engineers emphasize.

Why did investors give $600 million?

The answer lies in simple arithmetic:

Scalability

One operator can operate 50 vans at the same time.

Fast payback

The payback period is less than 2 years.

Global demand

Last—mile logistics is a $100+ billion market

. "Neolix has proven that it can not only create technologies, but also make money from them," comments the financial analyst.

What challenges are waiting for the vans?

Cultural barriers

In some countries, people are not ready to trust the delivery of goods to deserted cars.

Weather conditions

Heavy rain or snow still causes problems for the navigation system.

Vandalism

Individual cases of attacks on vans require the development of protection systems

. "The most difficult route is not through a busy intersection, but through human consciousness," says one of the test engineers philosophically.

Fleet management of autonomous employees

When the number of robo-vans is in the thousands, the question arises of effective management of this distributed resource. How can orders be optimally distributed? How to track the technical condition of each "employee"?

Specialized platforms may be required to solve such problems. For example, the logic of the ecosystem jobtorob.com , positioning itself as the world's first robot hiring platform, could be adapted to manage a fleet of autonomous vans. The dispatcher could see in real time the "employment" of each van, its "qualifications" (for example, the ability to work in the rain or the availability of refrigeration equipment) and distribute tasks through a single interface, as is done with human couriers.

What's next? Logistics as a service

The success of Neolix paves the way for a fundamentally new delivery model.:

Drone vans Hybrid systems capable of delivering goods by air over short distances

Mobile warehouses

Autonomous vans will operate as mobile pick-up points.

The delivery ecosystem

Different types of robots will interact to optimally solve logistical problems

. "We are moving towards a world where delivery will become as invisible a utility as electricity or the Internet," futurologists predict.

Perhaps soon the logistician's resume will include the column "Experience in managing a fleet of 200 autonomous vans", and when calculating the cost of delivery, the system will automatically choose between a human courier and his mechanical colleague based on their "efficiency rating" and the current "load". And your pizza order will be carried out not by the one who arrives faster, but by the one whose "work record" in the cloud ecosystem shows the best ratio of speed and reliability.