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Amazon’s 10,000 Rivian-built all-electric vans are delivering packages across the United States, the ecommerce company revealed during its Delivering the Future event on Tuesday evening.
Amazon, which has a stake in Rivian, signed a deal with the automaker in 2019 to have at least 100,000 electric delivery vans on the road by 2030. The order is part of Amazon’s climate pledge to become carbon-neutral by 2040.
Amazon is set to begin rolling out its electric delivery vans in summer 2022. The majority of electric delivery vans are in the US, distributed among 1,800 or more cities. Amazon began bringing electric delivery vans to Europe this summer and recently announced plans to deploy more than 300 vans in Germany.
The custom electric delivery van is one of three vehicles that Rivian is developing or producing. Its other two vehicles, the R1T pickup and the R1S SUV, are consumer EVs. Rivian said earlier this month it expected to produce 52,000 vehicles by the end of the year — a group that also includes vans.
The vehicles, which are assembled at Rivian’s factory in Normal, Illinois, share some of the same design features found in today’s gas-powered versions. The new EV vans have slightly more rounded edges, making them sleeker overall. The real difference is in the electric architecture and custom features that have been integrated into the van, including highway driving and traffic assistance features, exterior cameras that can provide a 360-degree view for the driver via digital displays and surround tail lights. Better braking visibility.
As part of Amazon’s climate pledge, the company has also launched a $2 billion climate fund to invest in startups that fit into its net-zero vision. Along with Rivian, Redwood Materials, CarbonCure Technologies, Pachama and Turntide Technologies are some of the companies in which Amazon has invested through the climate fund.
