Amazon is unveiling today its electric delivery van made by Rivian, and we get to see its cool interior for the first time.
Last year, Rivian took a $700 million round of funding led by Amazon, and at the time, they were discussing opportunities to work together.
A few months later, we learned that one of those opportunities is building an electric delivery van for the online retail giant.
Amazon announced that it will buy 100,000 electric delivery vans from Rivian.
The project is one of the biggest of its kind and would represent one of the largest deployment of electric vehicles in the world.
It’s also an order likely worth over $4 billion for Rivian, which is massive for a startup.
The company has been dripping pieces of information and images of the electric delivery over the last few months.
Now, it is fully unveiling it, along with some features, but not the powertrain specs.
Amazon announced in a press release today:
“Just a year since announcing The Climate Pledge, Amazon is excited to reveal its first custom electric delivery vehicle, designed and built in partnership with Rivian.”
Here are a few pictures of the electric delivery van:
Interestingly, the vehicle is completely branded with Amazon branding — making it very much an Amazon vehicle instead of a Rivian vehicle.
It has also revealed a good look at the interior of the can for the first time:
RJ Scaringe, Rivian CEO, commented on the electric delivery vehicle:
“The vehicle we’ve developed with Amazon is not just electric. We prioritized safety and functionality to create a vehicle that’s optimized for package delivery. We thought through how drivers get in and out of the van, what the work space feels like and what the work flow is for delivering packages.”
Amazon released a list of features:
- State-of-the-art sensor detection, a suite of highway and traffic assist technology, and a large windshield to enhance driver visibility.
- Exterior cameras around the vehicle that are linked to a digital display inside the cabin, giving the driver a 360-degree view outside the vehicle.
- Alexa integration for hands-free access to route information and the latest weather updates.
- A strengthened door on the driver’s side for additional protection.
- A “dancefloor” inside the driver’s cabin for easy movement inside the van.
- Bright tail lights surrounding the rear of the vehicle to easily detect braking.
- Three levels of shelving with a bulkhead door, which can easily be opened and closed for additional driver protection while on the road.
Amazon says that Rivian should start production of the electric delivery van next year and have 10,000 vans the vehicles on the road as early as 2022 and all 100,000 vehicles on the road by 2030.
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Author: Fred Lambert
Source: Electrek
