Amazon buys 100,000 electric vans from Rivian in largest ever EV order
Fri 20 September 2019
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The online retail giant Amazon has ordered 100,000 fully electric delivery vans from a US start-up company, Rivian, in a deal worth $5 billion.
Amazon's Chief Executive Jeff Bezos announced the order which is part of a project that will see Amazon get 80 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by 2024, rising to 100 per cent by 2030.
Amazon says that all 100,000 of the Rivian vans will have been deployed by 2030. The vans will start delivering packages to customers in 2021 and 10,000 of them will be on the road by 2022.
Amazon says that it will also help its suppliers to decarbonise their fleets and businesses.
Earlier this year, Amazon announced that it would be investing $700 million in Rivian. The startup has also benefited from a $500 million investment from Ford as part of a deal that will see the two firms collaborate on a new electric vehicle.
Rivian has already announced two models of its own – an SUV called the R1S and a pick-up truck called the R1T, the platform for both of which will likely be used for the new electric van. The firm is also planning a rally car-inspired design for its next model.
Jeff Bezos said: “We’re done being in the middle of the herd on this issue—we’ve decided to use our size and scale to make a difference.
“If a company with as much physical infrastructure as Amazon—which delivers more than 10 billion items a year—can meet the Paris Agreement 10 years early, then any company can.”
The order is easily the biggest EV fleet deal in history.
Related news: Ford has announced that it will bring plug-in hybrid technology for zero-emission driving capability to the one-tonne van segment, with the introduction of the new Transit Custom Plug-In Hybrid.
The Transit Custom Plug-In Hybrid will have an electric range of up to 35 miles and a total range (including via 1.0 EcoBoost petrol engine) of over 310 miles. Prices will start from around £40,000.
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