Last October, Amazon announced electric delivery vans made by Rivian, set to start delivering in 2021. We have seen a few of these electric vans on the road in recent months, and now Amazon has officially announced new road testing plans.
Amazon announced Thursday that it has begun testing its Rivian electric van in San Francisco, according to CNBC. While initial deliveries will be conducted from Amazon’s Richmond delivery station, the company says it will start delivering from other Bay Area sites soon.
Earlier this year, Amazon said they would be deploying Rivian’s electric van to 15 US cities in 2021, and they’re expecting to have 10,000 new electric custom delivery vehicles on the road by 2022. Los Angeles was the first city in which the company began testing the electric van, with San Francisco now following, and 13 other cities to come.
Amazon Global Fleet and Products Director Ross Rachey is proud of the speed of Amazon’s fleet electrification, which has already developed significantly since its announcement last year.
In a statement, Rachey said, “From what we’ve seen, this is one of the fastest modern commercial electrification programs, and we’re incredibly proud of that.” Rachey continued, “As we continue to grow and invest in California, we want to do so responsibly, so we’re excited for customers in the Bay Area to see these vehicles cruising through their neighborhood.”
Rivian Automotive, the electric vehicle (EV) company behind the Amazon delivery vans, has raised nearly $8 billion (USD) in capital since 2019, and has already agreed to sell 100,000 EVs to Amazon as of September 2019.
