Domino’s may have abandoned its 30-minutes-or-it’s-free promotion back in the 1990s, but the pizza chain’s latest endeavor might just be its best bet yet for ensuring piping hot pies.
The Ann Arbor, Michigan-based industry icon announced this week that it’s producing a fleet of 100 custom built cars, each one outfitted with a specialized warming oven and other bells and whistles that appeal to delivery drivers and pizza lovers alike the country over.
Domino’s new DXP, or “Delivery Expert,” is based around Chevrolet’s small-sized Spark and designed through a crowdsourcing contest held in conjunction with auto innovators Local Motors, the company that previously toyed with the concept of a 3-D-printed automobile, and Roush Enterprises, the developers behind Google’s self-driving car.
“The Domino’s DXP is the first purpose-built vehicle aimed at revolutionizing pizza delivery,” company president Russell Weiner said in a statement announcing the project Wednesday. “This innovation allow drivers to do their jobs with greater ease and efficiency, and demonstrates that Domino’s is absolutely fanatical about making perfect deliveries.”
Each DXP begins with a Chevy Spark that’s been gutted of all seats except for the driver’s, then equipped with a warming oven which can keep a temperature of 140 degrees and is designed to hold as many as 80 pizzas at once.
Passenger seats are replaced with storage compartments for other snacks, sauces, soda and essentials, as well as a GPS navigational system and exterior lights — two features that will help Domino’s get its drivers to drop-off spots ASAP.
Domino’s said it plans to supply 100 of the custom cars to locations in 25 markets across the nation. The company released a partial list of test markets for the DXP, with Boston as the lone East Coast city.
“We love to see fleets use our vehicles in new and innovative ways,” said Ed Peper, General Motors’ U.S. vice president for fleet and commercial sales. “This partnership between Chevrolet and Domino’s demonstrates the versatility, technology and performance our vehicles can deliver — in a literal sense in this case — to fleets across America.”
The pizza chain — which created the sturdy, corrugated pizza box and the 3-D car-top sign, both now industry standards — also sent a pizza-delivering drone on a test flight in 2013.
Domino’s once guaranteed customers delivery in less than a half-hour, but abandoned the pledge more than two decades ago amid safety concerns and related lawsuits.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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