Rivian breaks its exclusivity contract with Amazon: its electric vans can now be bought freely

A few years ago, the company Rivian announced that it had launched an electric van for last-mile delivery that would offer a very efficient service on city streets. That van was named the ADV, Electric Delivery Van, and an exclusivity contract was signed with Amazon so that the distribution giant would be the one to add them to its delivery fleet.

For several years, the main and only customer for this electric vehicle has been Amazon, which has 10,000 units of the van. These have been delivered after Amazon committed to purchase 100,000 units from 2019 to 2030. However, both companies have been tempted on more than one occasion to change that initial agreement and give up the exclusivity.

Amazon is still waiting for the 100,000 units of this vehicle, so this does not mean that they will stop manufacturing and selling the agreed vehicles to the American multinational. However, Rivian is freed from the exclusivity with Amazon, which means that any company will be able to acquire the ADV to cover last-mile delivery services.

The design of the ADV was carried out to meet Amazon’s requirements, so the units intended for other companies will possibly have some slight change in the exterior design, although it will be the same model. For now, the only thing Rivian has communicated is that from now on, the model is available to other companies.

It is not yet known in which markets this model will be offered, nor the price it will have for customers interested in the vehicle. It is known, however, that Amazon will remain a strategic ally for Rivian and will continue receiving the units contracted in the initial agreement.

As for the possibility of the ADV arriving in Europe, several units have already been seen deployed in Germany, so they could be an interesting showcase for potential European customers. We will wait a little to find out what the company says and we will learn the details of this new, more general-purpose version of the electric delivery model.