Amazon rolls out electric delivery vans in over 100 cities across U.S.
Amazon is delivering U.S. online purchases with more than 1,000 electric vehicles.
The e-tail giant has reached a goal it set in July 2022 to deploy electric vans it designed and built in partnership with manufacturer Rivian to deliver packages in U.S. cities including Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City, Nashville, Phoenix, San Diego, Seattle, and St. Louis. This rollout is the beginning of what Amazon expects to grow into a fleet of 100,000 custom electric delivery vehicles across the U.S. by 2030.
Customers will begin receiving deliveries during the 2022 holiday season via electric van in new cities, including Austin, Boston, Denver, Houston, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Madison, Newark, New York, Oakland, Pittsburgh, Portland, Provo, and Salt Lake City.
Amazon launched a pilot of the Rivian electric vans in Los Angeles in early 2021. As part of this test, Amazon delivered over 430,000 packages and accumulated over 90,000 miles with the Rivian vans.
According to Amazon, this testing enabled Rivian to improve the vehicle’s performance, safety and durability in various climates and geographies. Rivian has also completed certifications with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, California Air Resources Board, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The e-tail giant previously committed to having the first 10,000 Rivian vehicles on the road delivering to customers worldwide as early as 2022, with a planned full fleet of 100,000 operational by 2030. The Rivian investment, first announced in 2019, is part of Amazon’s Climate Pledge to be net zero carbon across its entire business by 2040.
The custom vehicles are made at Rivian’s factory in Illinois, and include technology and features such as a safety-first design focused on 360-degree visibility and protecting drivers and pedestrians; safety features including sensor detection, highway, and traffic assist technology; embedded technology that fully integrates the delivery workflow with the vehicle, enabling seamless access to routing, navigation, and driver support; and batteries that are light, resilient, and low-cost, in addition to lasting the lifetime of the vehicle.
[Read more: Amazon electric delivery vans focus on driver safety, convenience]
“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 Udit Madan, VP of Amazon Transportation. “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.”
“Fleet electrification is essential to reaching the world’s zero-emissions goal,” said Jiten Behl, chief growth officer at Rivian. “So, to see our ramp up in production supporting Amazon’s rollout in cities across the country is amazing. Not just for the environment, but also for our teams working hard to get tens of thousands of electric delivery vehicles on the road. They continue to be motivated by our combined mission and the great feedback about the vehicle’s performance and quality.”