Amazon custom electric delivery vehicles from Rivian start US roll-out
Starting today, customers across the US will begin to see custom electric delivery vehicles from Rivian delivering their Amazon packages, with the EVs hitting the road in the likes of Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City, Nashville, Phoenix, San Diego, Seattle, and St. Louis.
The aim is to have thousands of these vehicles in more than 100 cities by the end of this year, and 100,000 across the US by 2030.
This is the product of Amazon’s partnership with Rivian, which the companies announced in 2019 when the former co-founded, and became the first signatory of The Climate Pledge.
“Fighting the effects of climate change requires constant innovation and action, and Amazon is partnering with companies who share our passion for inventing new ways to minimise our impact on the environment,” says Andy Jassy, CEO at Amazon.
“Rivian has been an excellent partner in that mission, and we’re excited to see our first custom electric delivery vehicles on the road.”
“Today marks a significant milestone in our Climate Pledge commitment. Rivian was one of the first companies Amazon invested in through the Climate Pledge Fund, and we’re just getting started on our journey to have 100,000 of Rivian’s vehicles on the road by 2030.”
“And, in addition to being sustainable, these new vehicles are also great for drivers. They were designed with driver input and feedback along the way, and they’re among the safest and most comfortable delivery vehicles on the road today.”
“Today represents an important step, not just for Amazon and Rivian as partners, but also for transportation and the environment,” says RJ Scaringe, CEO at Rivian.
“In 2019, Rivian and Amazon committed to fast-tracking a new type of delivery vehicle that would result in a significant reduction of carbon emissions.”
“Thanks to our teams’ dedication, hard work and collaboration, and a shared commitment to make the world a better place for our kids’ kids, that vision is now being realised.”
“To say this is an exciting moment is an understatement. We’re thrilled to see this partnership has kickstarted decarbonisation projects across the logistics delivery industry.”
Amazon has been testing deliveries with Rivian preproduction vehicles since 2021, delivering over 430,000 packages and accumulating 90,000+ miles.
The vehicles are made at the latter’s factory in Illinois, and include safety features such as sensor detection, highway, and traffic assist technology, a large windshield to enhance driver visibility, automatic emergency breaking, adaptive cruise control, and collision warnings.
They also boast an embedded technology that fully integrates the delivery workflow with the vehicle, enabling seamless access to routing, navigation, driver support and more.
Amazon says that it has added thousands of charging stations at its delivery stations across the US, and will continue to invest in building an infrastructure to support a more sustainable delivery fleet.
