- amazon has ordered 100,000 fully electric delivery vans from startup automaker rivian.
- photos of the cargo vans show a friendly-looking face with circular headlights and amazon prime logos on the side.
- rivian says the first vehicles will begin delivering amazon packages in 2021, and that 10,000 will be on the road in 2022.
this is our first look at the electric delivery vans that startup automaker rivian will be building for amazon. these battery-powered cargo carriers from the michigan-based automaker will be built at the company's plant in normal, illinois, and will begin reaching the amazon fleet in 2021. amazon plans to have 10,000 in service in 2022, and amazon ceo jeff bezos says that all 100,000 will be on the road by 2024.
the company is not sharing many mechanical details about the vans, but does say that the powertrain and many other components are shared with the r1t pickup and r1s models, which are scheduled to be on sale by the end of 2020. the body, interior design, software, and suspension are designed specifically for the vans. there's no word yet on the charging infrastructure, but rivian does say that it will be providing service and maintenance for amazon's fleet of vans.
amazon also led an investment of $700 million in rivian earlier this year, but rivian says the delivery-van deal is separate from that. the vans will be built exclusively for amazon—although we could imagine rivian selling a similar type of vehicle to other customers at some point in the future. stay tuned for more details to come on these new vans.
