EV maker Rivian Automotive is targeting sales of its electric van across all fleets as its exclusive tie-up with Amazon ends.
California-based Rivian, which also makes the R1T pickup truck and R1S SUV, partnered with Amazon back in 2019 to develop an electric van from the ground up, supporting the retail giant with its bid to bring 100,000 Amazon Electric Delivery Van (EDVs) on the road by 2030. Amazon is Rivian’s largest shareholder and has a 17% stake in the company.
Now, Rivian is working to enable other companies to purchase its custom-designed Rivian Commercial Van (RCV) – which Amazon’s custom electric delivery van is based on, both in the US and the smaller version since rolled out in Europe.
The firm said the move was always planned – and provides companies all around the world more opportunity to electrify their delivery fleets, which will help to further reduce CO2 emissions.
“Rivian and Amazon share a mission to decarbonise last-mile delivery and have been working together since 2019 to make that a reality,” said Udit Madan, vice president of transportation at Amazon. “This has been part of our plan with Rivian from the beginning – we’ve always said that we want others to benefit from their technology in the long run because having more electric delivery vehicles on the road is good for our communities and our planet.”
The Rivian Commercial Van has been designed from the outset to prioritise safety, driver comfort and sustainability. It’s said to be among the safest vehicles on the road today and comes with safety features such as automatic emergency braking, collision warnings and 360-degree visibility.
It’s available in two sizes, with a payload of up to 2,734lb (1,240kg) and a gross vehicle weight rating of up to 9,500lb (4,309kg). Prices in the US start at $83k (£67,540 / €77,490) for the smaller Delivery 500 and $87k (£70,800 / €81,230) for the Delivery 700.
It’s underpinned by Rivian’s in-house software stack, which controls everything from unlocking the vehicle and opening the door, to charging and acceleration. This opens up critical fleet information – including real-time data and remote commands, driver and vehicle insights, alerts and analytics – able to streamline fleet ownership and minimise costs, while increasing safety and productivity.
RJ Scaringe, CEO of Rivian, said: “We’re excited to open sales of our electric commercial van to more businesses. Around a quarter of CO2 emitted in the transportation sector in the US comes from commercial vehicles, so it’s imperative we do all we can as soon as possible to help cut emissions. Amazon is, and will remain, a key partner for us, and we look forward to continuing to work closely with the Amazon team as we help them to achieve their Climate Pledge goal.”
Rivian says it’s already seen strong interest in the RCV from fleets across the globe looking to reduce their CO2 output. It will initially prioritise larger fleet requests will and start small scale deployments in 2024, prior to scaling deliveries in 2025 – details are on its Fleet page.
