It’s no surprise that Amazon is counting on a massive fleet of all-electric delivery vans from startup automaker Rivian, manufacturer of the upcoming R1T all-electric pickup truck and R1S three-row SUV. However, thus far, there hasn’t been a whole lot of information to go along with reports that Amazon pre-ordered 100,000 vans.
Today, Amazon published a blog post, a video, and a collection of images to shed more light on the future plans. According to the company, the electric delivery vans will begin to hit public roads beginning in 2021.
According to Amazon’s director of global fleet and products Ross Rachey:
“We’re trying to build the most sustainable transportation fleet in the world.It also needs to be the most functional, the highest performing, the safest.”
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Amazon ordered the huge fleet of Rivian vans part of The Climate Pledge, which is the company’s commitment to adhere to the Paris Climate Agreement and meet its goals 10 years early. The Paris Accord’s goals aim for 2050, but Amazon has set an individual goal of 2040 to go completely emissions-free.
In order to meet its goal, Amazon spent almost two years researching its future electric delivery vehicle options. It eventually chose Rivian, an upcoming automaker it had previously invested in, to the tune of $1.3 million. Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe shared:
“We are focused on driving efficiency into every aspect of the vehicle design—everything from cabin heating to driver ergonomics to drivetrain design has been optimized for time and energy. And then the echo effect of this, of causing other logistics players in this space to also look at how they drive up efficiency within their fleet, will have a very large impact.”
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To read the entire Amazon blog post with more details, follow the link below.