Amazon is now using Rivian’s custom-made EV delivery vans across several cities in the US for the ‘last mile’ journey, the company announced. It is now deliveries Amazon packages in cities around the US, including Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City, Nashville, Phoenix, San Diego, Seattle and St. Louis. Amazon aims to have the vans to serve over 100 cities by the end of 2022, and still hopes to field 100,000 vehicles by 2030.
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The rollout hasn’t been as smooth as Amazon would’ve wanted. It was expected to start using the EV delivery vans by the end of 2021 in more than 15 cities around the US, but there were many problems. Most notably, Rivian had issues ramping up their production for various reasons, including shortages in labour and parts due to the global pandemic.
Amazon has a goal of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2040, with its EV delivery van fleet being a major part of that mission. The bespoke vans are also focused on safety, with greater visibility and a host of driver aids that include automatic emergency braking and highway assistance. They unsurprisingly make use of Alexa to help drivers check the weather and otherwise improve their rides.
The two companies are also inexorably entangled, so the success of this project is financially pivotal to both companies. At the end of 2021 Amazon increased its stake in Rivian to around 20 percent.
The custom electric delivery van is one of three vehicles that Rivian is developing or producing. Its other two vehicles, the R1T pickup and R1S SUV, are consumer EVs. Rivian has previously said it is on track to deliver 25,000 EVs by the end of the year. Inside the van is multi-level shelving and a bulkhead cargo compartment separating door. Amazon has previously said that the Alexa voice assistant will be an embedded feature, but it is currently not in the vans.
