Watch Ex-Top Gear Host Reveal Amazon's New Delivery Drone Protoype

Retailer Amazon continues to work on its drone-delivery service. The company has announced a new Amazon Prime Air prototype and released a video narrated by Jeremy Clarkson explaining how it works.

As you'll see in the video, Amazon's new Prime Air drone looks quite different than the original model we saw in December 2013. This one carries its parcels on top of the unmanned aerial vehicle instead of underneath. Clarkson, recently hired by Amazon for a new car show after the BBC dismissed him, explains that Prime Air will come in different configurations depending on the package it needs to carry.

Prime Air drones fly as high as 400 feet and also have "sense and avoid" technology that can determine what's around them in the sky and on the ground. As the drone comes in for delivery, it scans landing zones for potential hazards and chooses an appropriate drop zone.

The appeal of Prime Air is that it will, in theory, be able to deliver packages in 30 minutes or less. As the video explains, this could come in handy if a dog eats a soccer cleat right before the big game.

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This particular Prime Air drone can fly a range of 15 miles, which is up from 10 miles that the first prototype was capable of.

There is no time table yet for Prime Air commercial availability and it won't be available everywhere.

"We will deploy when and where we have the regulatory support needed to safely realize our vision," Amazon says. "The FAA is actively working on rules and an approach for unmanned aerial vehicles that will prioritize public safety. Safety will be our top priority, and our vehicles will be built with multiple redundancies and designed to commercial aviation standards."

Amazon expects drone delivery for packages to become commonplace in the future. "One day, Prime Air vehicles will be as normal as seeing mail trucks on the road today," it claimed.

Check out Amazon's Prime Air website to learn more.