Photo: Amazon
Rivian started deliveries of its electric delivery vans to Amazon in July. Since then, the EDVs have already delivered more than 5 million packages. According to the company, it is approaching its first holiday season with more than 1,000 units of these electric vans on the streets in more than 100 American cities.
Although that is a remarkable number, it also shows how much work Rivian has had to reach it. When Amazon announced purchasing the 100,000 vans from the startup, it expected to start receiving them by 2021. The pandemic and supply change crisis pushed that to the middle of 2022. Despite that, Amazon is still confident it can reach 100,000 EDV units by 2030.
The strongest argument for these vans to be on the streets is carbon emission reduction. However, its drivers and users are pretty happy about how much more comfortable they are compared to combustion-engined alternatives. Although the Amazon blog post about that did not specify what makes them more relaxing to work with, silence certainly plays a major role in that feeling. Julieta Dennis, an Amazon Delivery Service Partner and owner of Kangaroo Logistics, also praised safety features such as automatic emergency braking and 360-degree cameras.
Unfortunately, Amazon did not share how long these electric vans work every day, how far they travel, and what charging strategy they follow to be ready for new deliveries on and on. It will be interesting to track how long their battery packs last, what happens when they die, and how much it costs to replace them – if Amazon and Rivian ever care to disclose that information.
Although the Rivian vans are currently only in the U.S., Amazon will also invest €1 billion ($1 billion and 100 thousand at the current exchange rate) to electrify deliveries in Europe. Rivian’s recent deal with Mercedes-Benz to produce the EDV in the Old Continent is undoubtedly included in these investments. As one of Rivian’s main shareholders, Amazon will buy the vans it can make there – possibly in Germany.
The strongest argument for these vans to be on the streets is carbon emission reduction. However, its drivers and users are pretty happy about how much more comfortable they are compared to combustion-engined alternatives. Although the Amazon blog post about that did not specify what makes them more relaxing to work with, silence certainly plays a major role in that feeling. Julieta Dennis, an Amazon Delivery Service Partner and owner of Kangaroo Logistics, also praised safety features such as automatic emergency braking and 360-degree cameras.
Unfortunately, Amazon did not share how long these electric vans work every day, how far they travel, and what charging strategy they follow to be ready for new deliveries on and on. It will be interesting to track how long their battery packs last, what happens when they die, and how much it costs to replace them – if Amazon and Rivian ever care to disclose that information.
Although the Rivian vans are currently only in the U.S., Amazon will also invest €1 billion ($1 billion and 100 thousand at the current exchange rate) to electrify deliveries in Europe. Rivian’s recent deal with Mercedes-Benz to produce the EDV in the Old Continent is undoubtedly included in these investments. As one of Rivian’s main shareholders, Amazon will buy the vans it can make there – possibly in Germany.
Google News