Amazon announced it is bringing an increasing number of Rivian electric vans to over 100 UScities this holiday season, as per InsideEVs.
Since first laid out in July, Amazon’s zero-emissions vehicles from Rivian have delivered more than 5 million packages in the US.
The online retail giant stated that hundreds of the vehicles rolled out this summer in more than 12 cities, including Dallas, Nashville, Baltimore, San Diego, Seattle, and Chicago.
Since then, the American company has expanded its fleet and has more than 1,000 electric delivery vehicles (EDVs) in more than 100 cities across the country.
This holiday season, consumers will start spotting the delivery vans transporting gifts and packages to doorsteps in new cities. It includes Denver, Austin, Las Vegas, New York, Oakland, Newark, Madison, Pittsburg, Portland, Boston, Indianapolis, Houston, Salt Lake City and Provo.
Amazon ordered Rivian electric vans
Last 2019, Amazon ordered 100,000 electric vans from Rivian and aimed to have them delivered by 2030.
In addition, there was a target to have 10,000 vans delivered by the end of this year. However, with Amazon operating more than 1,000 vehicles as of November 2022, that goal looks challenging to fill.
“We’re always excited for the holiday season, but making deliveries to customers across the country with our new zero-emission vehicles for the first time makes this year unique,” said Amazon Transportation vice-president Udit Madan.
“We’ve already delivered over 5 million packages with our vehicles produced by Rivian, and this is still just the beginning—that figure will grow exponentially as we continue to make progress toward our 100,000-vehicle goal.”
The company said its delivery drivers share positive feedback about the vehicles and their favorite features, including the 360-degree cameras, automatic emergency braking, superior visibility with the large windshield, ventilated seats for fast heating and cooling, and spacious cabin and cargo area.
Amazon to invest more than €1 billion
In addition to the current electrification of its North American fleet, the company announced plans to invest more than €1 billion ($1 billion) in the next five years to net-zero carbon and electrify its transportation network across Europe.
The investment is also intended to pour more than 1B euros into a fleet of more than 10,000 EVs by 2025, drive innovation across the industry, and encourage more public charging infrastructure.
The custom vans are exclusively built for Amazon. However, Rivian offers a similar-looking fleet van on the company’s website, as per Car and Driver.
Notably, the current Amazon delivery fleet consists of Ford Transit vans, Ram ProMasters, and Mercedes-Benz Sprinters.
