If you’re an Amazon Prime member, the odds of spotting a Rivian Electric Delivery Van (EDV) at your doorstep have increased significantly compared to last year.
This is due to a 50% increase in Amazon’s EDV fleet within the United States in roughly nine months, bringing the total to over 15,000 battery-powered vans delivering packages nationwide.
Additionally, Amazon’s European operations have deployed over 300 Rivian-made EDVs on the streets of Germany.
Rivian’s Expanding Commercial Ventures
Rivian’s commercial endeavors extend beyond supplying custom-built electric vans to Amazon and AT&T. The company has recently ventured into other segments of the commercial vehicle sector.
For instance, the core components of the Electric Commercial Van have been repurposed to create a right-hand drive mail van for Canadian deliveries.
Milestones in Amazon’s EDV Rollout
The first Amazon-branded EDVs began gracing U.S. roads in July 2022. A year later, the company announced a fleet of 5,000 electric vans making deliveries, a figure that doubled to 10,000 just four months later. Now, that number has surpassed the 15,000 mark.
Amazon’s Ambitious Goal and Potential Delays
Five years ago, Amazon pledged to have 100,000 Rivian electric vans delivering parcels by 2030. While this goal is ambitious, it could face potential delays.
The milestone of 10,000 units, originally slated for 2022, was only achieved in October 2023. Moreover, the rate at which Rivian has been delivering electric vans to Amazon has slowed down compared to previous milestones. It took a year to deliver the first 5,000 units, then four months for another 5,000.
However, the most recent batch of 5,000 EVs took nine months to deliver. To reach its 2030 target, Rivian needs to ramp up production significantly—maintaining the current pace of roughly 7,500 units per year on average would only yield 60,000 vans by 2030.
Amazon’s Delivery Success and Charging Infrastructure
With its current fleet of Rivian EVs, Amazon has delivered over 800 million packages to U.S. customers. To support this vast electric fleet, the company has installed over 17,000 chargers across more than 120 delivery stations in the country.
Evolution of Rivian’s Electric Commercial Vehicle
Initially exclusive to Amazon, Rivian’s electric commercial vehicle is now available to any buyer under the new name Electric Commercial Van (ECV), with a starting price of $83,000 for the base model. Since then, AT&T has announced a pilot program for 2024, incorporating several Rivian ECVs and R1 EVs into its fleet.