The FairPrice Group, which operates the FairPrice supermarket chain, has received the green light to use autonomous vehicles (AVs) to transport goods on public roads without an accompanying safety vehicle.
This marks the first time the Land Transport Authority (LTA) has approved the use of remotely supervised AVs on public roads for supply chain operations.
In a statement on Oct 8, the FairPrice Group said it had partnered with autonomous driving technology company Zelos to begin trials in October 2024. They secured LTA’s approval to transition to remote operations in April.
The Zelos Z10 will be used to move goods within and between the FairPrice Group’s distribution centres in Benoi and Joo Koon, which are slightly under 2km apart. The group is now conducting trials on a longer route between the two distribution centres and a third centre in Sunview Road about 5.5km away. It has been running daytime trials on public roads, accompanied by a safety vehicle, since August.
In an agreement signed on Oct 7, the FairPrice Group and Zelos agreed to add nearly 30 Zelos AVs to the group’s fleet. The supermarket operator currently has one AV, and will get two more by the end of October.
The Zelos Z10 is the first fully driverless AV designed for the logistics sector, with a load capacity of up to 1.5 tonnes and a range of up to 210km. It will be used to transport palletised stocks such as fruits and vegetables that can be stored safely at room temperature, packaged products and other essentials, the FairPrice Group said.
The approved route uses smaller roads, passing through industrial and commercial areas.
The group said the AVs will be monitored from its Supply Chain Operations Centre in Joo Koon, which uses real-time supply chain data to ensure supermarkets are consistently stocked.
The first phase of the public road trial began on Oct 18, 2024, and involved the AV going through daily and nightly test drives, accompanied by a safety vehicle.
The group said the use of AVs is expected to lower its carbon dioxide emissions by 27 tonnes per year. The vehicles will also cut the number of hours spent on manual tasks such as loading and unloading, freeing up staff to focus on more complex work, it added.
Mr Vipul Chawla, group chief executive of FairPrice Group, said: “Through this initiative with Zelos, we are bolstering our capability to support the nation’s supply resilience by introducing innovation that makes our supply chain operations more efficient, sustainable and digitally enabled.”
Zelos’ partnership with FairPrice Group marks the China-based company’s first successful overseas deployment, said its managing director Terry Zhou.
“This deployment dramatically reduces supermarket logistics costs through autonomous driving,” he added.
Singapore aims to deploy AVs across the island within the next five years to enhance its public transport network.
In September, the first self-driving shuttles to be deployed in Punggol began plying the roads to map out new routes and familiarise themselves with local road conditions. The new routes will be operated by Grab and ComfortDelGro in partnership with Chinese AV companies WeRide and Pony.ai.
The first route for passenger service is set to open by the second quarter of 2026.
And in another first for Singapore, WeRide obtained permission in July to operate a self-driving shuttle bus service at Resorts World Sentosa without any safety personnel on board.
Other AV trials here involve vehicles such as road sweepers in the Marina Coastal Drive area and people movers like a shuttle bus service at Ngee Ann Polytechnic.
Note: This article was written by Vanessa Paige Chelvan and first appeared in The Straits Times on 8 October 2025.
Source: The Straits Times
