EV vending machine plans from Alibaba

Alibaba will sell Ford’s electric vehicles through massive automated vending machines with cat inspired images.

It plans to open dozens of facilities across China next year, starting with one in Nanjing and another in Shanghai in January under a deal signed recently, TechCrunch reports.

Customers will scan an EV they’re interested in using the Taobao shopping app developed by Alibaba, a Chinese e-commerce company. They can select a colour, enter some basic information and take a selfie to identify themselves when they go to the unmanned vending machine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvJFluC3A5s

The customer is matched with their order using facial recognition technology and the EV is retrieved from storage.

They have three days to test the vehicle before deciding whether to buy it. Once the decision’s made they can use the smartphone app to pay for it, or arrange to return the car and schedule another test drive.

Customers are limited to five test periods every two months to ensure the system isn’t used as a free car hire service.

They also need to qualify as an Alibaba Super Member, and have reached a certain level on the company’s credit scoring service.