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The next time you order “curbside delivery” from the Chick-fil-A at Kirby Drive and the Southwest Freeway, one of the country’s most successful Chick-fil-As, don’t be surprised if your spicy chicken sandwich and waffle fries are delivered by a driverless, three-wheeled electric vehicle that looks like a cross between a Big Wheels ride-on and the Mars Rover.

This is a first for Houston. Chick-fil-A has partnered with Factiona California-based company that develops autonomous (driverless) fleets. Earlier this week, I sat down with Ain McKendrick, the founder and CEO of Faction, who explained to me how Chick-fil-A’s futuristic curbside delivery system works.

The key word is “curbside.” Unlike popular food delivery companies like DoorDash and UberEats, Faction’s robotic vehicles don’t involve a human driver who will bring the food to your door, hoping to receive a tip.

When a patrol vehicle delivers your food, you will receive a message that the vehicle has arrived, and you will walk to the curb and collect your food from the car parked in front of your house. Please put on some clothes. The neighbors can see you.

When you order from the Kirby/Southwest Chick-fil-A on the Chick-fil-A app and click delivery, you’ll have a choice of how you want your food delivered to your door. You can always request DoorDash or another service. If you choose “curbside delivery,” watch for a Faction vehicle to pull up to your house. You’ll open the storage door, open the separate boxes that keep your sandwiches and fries warm and your soda cold, and head back inside to dig in.

Currently, Kirby/Southwest Freeway Chick-fil-A uses two dispatch vehicles to supplement regular delivery cars during busy times. Faction promises (they phrase their claim as “estimates”) that you will get your food within 30 minutes. Currently, human “supervisors” accompany them while the vehicles map the restaurant’s six-kilometer delivery zone. Faction tracks the progress of its vehicles on a video board at its base and ensures each delivery goes smoothly.

Electric vehicles are approved and insured and can travel at 120 km/h on highways. But because of Houston’s notoriously heavy traffic, Faction programmed vehicles to stay on surface streets and below the speed limit. That’s how I get around too. I got tired of this inexplicable traffic jam on the Southwest Freeway when it turns toward downtown.

McKendrick said the driverless vehicles will have learned Houston’s streets well enough by August to operate without human supervisors.

Will customers be OK with their Chick-fil-A food delivered by driverless vehicles? So far it’s not a problem. In fact, McKendrick said some customers were waiting outside with their phone cameras ready so they could share photos of the delivery. Sharing their waffle fries is another story.

I’m skeptical about electric and driverless vehicles. I asked McKendrick…

What happens if a dog runs in front of a Faction vehicle? He said the vehicle will automatically stop to let the dog pass.

What if there was a children’s birthday party in my neighborhood and there was no parking in front of my house? He said the vehicle would pull over to the side and flash warning lights until the customer came to pick up their food.

So what’s the benefit for Chick-fil-A in partnering with Faction? Jesse Chaluh, owner of Chick-fil-A in Kirby/Southwest Freeway, said it’s a more efficient way to offer delivery service to his customers. He believes his restaurant will eventually need five or more Faction vehicles to meet demand.

While each vehicle currently delivers one order to one customer per trip, the technology will eventually improve and each vehicle will be able to make multiple deliveries on each foray into Houston’s streets.