Rivian’s all-electric Amazon delivery truck has started making deliveries in San Francisco, California. San Francisco is now the second city to sustainably experience parcel delivery with Rivian’s new van. This makes Los Angeles the only location where Amazon parcels are currently received from the fully electric vehicle.
Amazon customers had their first run-ins in the Rivian van on February 3 in Los Angeles when the highly anticipated battery-powered vehicle made its first package deliveries. With plans to expand deliveries to 16 cities by the end of 2021, Rivian’s Amazon van is now in the Bay Area, where the e-commerce giant is testing the vehicle’s capabilities in some of the more difficult areas for package delivery: tight populated cities.
San Francisco offered several advantages for the Rivian delivery truck in Amazon’s initial test phases. Amazon selected the city specifically for its great customers, unique terrain, and favorable climate.
Ross Rachey, director of Amazon Global Fleet and Products, said:
“From what we’ve seen, this is one of the fastest modern commercial electrification programs available and we are incredibly proud of it. As we continue to grow and invest in California, let’s do this We are very excited that customers in the Bay Area can see these vehicles drive through their neighborhood. “
In September 2019, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced that his e-commerce company plans to buy 100,000 all-electric vans from Rivian to help reduce the carbon footprint of driving gas-powered vehicles. Amazon is one of Rivian’s largest investors and made a $ 700 million investment in February 2019. Shortly afterwards, the development of the delivery van began. The vehicle was presented in October 2020. It has a range of 150 miles per charge and is equipped with safety tweaks and other features to improve the driving experience.
Current delivery drivers who operate Rivian’s all-electric van have been specially trained to operate the vehicle, Amazon Teslarati said in a statement.
Amazon will initially use the Rivian vans to deliver packages from the e-commerce giant’s delivery station in Richmond, California.
“Richmond is a regional and state leader in climate action, including creating green jobs and infrastructure, implementing a robust climate change plan, signing the Paris Agreement in 2016 and more,” said city mayor Tom Butt. “It is fitting that Amazon’s new electric vehicles are being launched in the Bay Area from Richmond, and I congratulate the company on this important advance in reducing carbon emissions from commercial vehicles.”
Amazon also plans to start deliveries from other locations in the Bay Area soon. The company already uses thousands of EVs worldwide, but is also working on updating delivery centers to be suitable for EV servicing. Last year, Amazon delivered more than 20 million electric vehicle packages to customers in North America and Europe.
