Amazon’s Custom Electric Delivery Vehicles Hit The Road

Amazon's custom-designed electric delivery vehicles from Rivian are hitting the streets, the retail giant announced.

Starting Thursday, the new state-of-the-art, low-carbon vehicles are making deliveries in dozens of U.S. cities, including Chicago, Baltimore, Dallas, Kansas City, Nashville, Phoenix, San Diego, Seattle, St. Louis and more.  

Amazon and Rivian, which announced their partnership in 2019, said they plan to bring thousands of these vehicles to more than 100 cities by year’s end, and 100,000 across the U.S. by 2030.

“Today represents an important step, not just for Amazon and Rivian as partners, but also for transportation and the environment,” said RJ Scaringe, CEO of Rivian, in a statement. “In 2019, Rivian and Amazon committed to fast-tracking a new type of delivery vehicle that would result in a significant reduction of carbon emissions."

In addition to their environmental friendliness, the vehicles have a host of features, including 360-degree visibility, safety sensors, routing and navigation technology, automatic door locks, ergonomic driver seating and light, low-cost batteries. 

Rivian designs, develops and manufactures electric vehicles and accessories at the company’s factory in Illinois.

The Rivian partnership is part of Amazon's Climate Pledge partnership in which the retailer committed to reaching net-zero carbon across their operations by 2040.

“Fighting the effects of climate change requires constant innovation and action, and Amazon is partnering with companies who share our passion for inventing new ways to minimize our impact on the environment," Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in a statement. "Rivian has been an excellent partner in that mission, and we’re excited to see our first custom electric delivery vehicles on the road."

Since 2021, Amazon has been testing deliveries with Rivian preproduction vehicles. More than 430,000 packages have been delivered, and over 90,000 miles were accumulated. Also, the company has added thousands of charging stations to its delivery stations across the country.