Amazon's First Electric Rivian Vans Are Now Making Deliveries

Amazon's First Electric Rivian Vans Are Now Making Deliveries

The electric vans, which are part of Amazon’s 2040 climate pledge, will not go into a series of production until the year’s end, as per an update Wednesday by the organization. Amazon declined to uncover the number of electric vans in the test fleet. 

The client deliveries are important for persistent testing being directed by Amazon and Rivian to quantify execution just as security solidness in different environments and geologies. Street tests previously began over four months prior. They built the current fleet of vehicles at Rivian’s central command in Plymouth, Michigan, and can travel up to 150 miles on a solitary charge. Rivian designers will keep on refining the vehicles for the start of production at its Normal, Illinois industrial facility.

In the meantime, these electric vehicles will pop up on transmission lines in up to 15 additional cities in 2021. Eventually, Amazon aims to set up at least 100,000 electric vans — the size of its order with Rivian — over the next several years.

Amazon and Rivian began testing vehicles four months proceeding to carrying out customer deliveries, as part of the testing and evolution process. Amazon is also setting up to adjust its buildings to welcome the new fleet of vehicles and has equipped thousands of electric vehicle charging stations at its delivery stations across North America and Europe, the company said.

 “We love the enthusiasm from customers so far–from the photos we see online to the car fans that stop our drivers for a first-hand look at the vehicle,” Ross Rachey, director of Amazon’s global Fleet and products, said in a statement. “From what we’ve seen, this is one of the fastest modern commercial electrification programs, and we’re incredibly proud of that.”