Amazon
Depending on where you live, your Amazon order may have been delivered by one of the company’s striking-looking Rivian electric delivery vans. Made by the same company that builds highly capable electric trucks and SUVs for the affluent tech crowd, Rivian has now built more than 5,000 delivery vans for the online retailing giant. The vans have delivered more than 150 million packages to date.
Amazon and Rivian made news together in 2019 when the former led a $700 million investment round into the EV startup. A few months later, Amazon announced an order of 100,000 electric vans from Rivian. At the time, Amazon’s then-CEO Jeff Bezos said all 100,000 vehicles would be deployed by 2024—a timeline that even pre-pandemic appeared extremely optimistic; the official press release gave a more circumspect 2030 deadline. The vans began delivering packages in 2021.
Amazon
Like the BrightDrop Zevo 600, the Rivian van is a clean-sheet design, optimized specifically for Amazon’s logistics workflow. It’s equipped with a full suite of advanced driver assistance systems, and the cab design minimizes blind spots. It even has a charming appearance, much like Rivian’s R1 series, thanks to friendly round daytime running lights.
Here in Washington, DC, I’ve yet to see any Amazon Rivians on the road, but on a recent trip to Northern California they were thick on the ground—I counted at least four over the course of an hour.
In fact, the Rivian vans are at work in “more than 800 regions and cities” in the US, according to Amazon. These include Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Cleveland, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, Denver, Grand Rapids, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Madison, Nashville, New York, Newark, Oakland, Omaha, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, Provo, Rochester, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Jose, Santa Rosa, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa, and Toledo. Amazon says Alpharetta, Charlotte, Miami, and Orlando are next.
Amazon
We can also add the German cities of Berlin, Dusseldorf, and Munich to that list. Earlier this week, Amazon also announced that it will send some of its Rivians across the Atlantic, where they will join an existing German fleet of more than 1,000 electric delivery vehicles.
Ars hasn’t quite persuaded Rivian and Amazon that they should let us test one of their vans yet. But I’m working on it.