This holiday season Amazon is gearing up to deliver packages through the 1,000 Rivian electric delivery vans. This would be these vans’ first-holiday experience. The delivery fleet will be out in full force and is expected to be seen out on the roads.
Amazon’s delivery drivers are about the closest thing we get, with over a billion packages shipped each day and even more during the holidays. Amazon initially invested $700 million in Rivian in 2019 and later introduced its first electric delivery van, designed and built with the EV startup. By September 2019, Amazon committed to buying over 100,000 EDVs from Rivian as part of The Climate Pledge, slated to roll out between 2021 and 2024. The e-commerce giant began making deliveries in electric vans in Los Angeles in February 2021, confirming at the time the EDVs would make their way to 15 additional cities. This past summer, Amazon began rolling out EDVs across over a dozen cities, including Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Seattle, and more.
According to Amazon’s latest update, the Rivian EDV rollout is progressing as planned, with over 1,000 fully electric delivery vans debuting in more than 100 US cities this holiday season. A few of the newest cities you may be able to spot one of these EDVs in are Boston, New York, Las Vegas, and Pittsburgh.
Rivian fleet
Udit Madan, VP of Amazon Transportation, explains the significance of adding EDVs to their fleet for the holiday season. “We’re always excited for the holiday season, but making deliveries to customers across the country with our new zero-emission vehicles for the first time makes this year unique.”
Madan adds Amazon has already delivered “over 5 million packages” in its Rivian EDVs as it marches towards its goal of deploying 100,000 electric vans by 2030.
Amazon drivers are liking the electric delivery vans so far. The features include – superior visibility, 360-degree cameras, a spacious cabin and cargo area, and ventilated seats for fast heating and cooling. Julieta Dennis, an Amazon Delivery Service Partner, says, “We started making deliveries with the electric vehicles from Rivian in August, and my team has had nothing but good things to say about the vans. The safety features, like the automatic emergency braking and 360-degree cameras, are game changers, and the drivers also love the overall comfort of the vehicle.”
Amazon’s carbon footprint continues growing each year as the company takes on more deliveries and customers, and implementing electric vans in its fleet is vital to getting it under control. The partnership gives Rivian a funding weapon to continue expanding operations and building its market share.