Rivian closes a historic deal with Amazon to supply 100,000 electric delivery vans

Some companies are beginning to find success in the market, even before they have presented their definitive models. One of these newly founded companies, eager to make its mark in the automotive market with a strong showcase of what it can offer buyers, is Rivian. Rivian’s two main bets have been two off-road vans, Rivian R1T and Rivian R1S.

These two vehicles embody the essence of purely American off-road models: large, powerful and functional. But this is not the company’s only goal, since the multinational Amazon has also invested in it. Jeff Bezos has set his sights on the electric van manufacturer and has commissioned the production of 100,000 units of an electric van.

The purpose of this quantity of electric vans is to serve as delivery vehicles for the multinational’s parcels. This vehicle has not yet been developed by Rivian, but work is underway on a concept model that could be unveiled in 2020. The first units will be ready to enter service from 2021, once everything is in place and it has been shown that electric vehicles can meet Amazon’s needs.

Delivery vehicle for Amazon

The deadline for all these vans to be in service is 2024, and over the coming months we will, in theory, learn more details about what this electric van model will offer. For the moment we have none of the details that will form part of the performance of the electric vans intended for delivery.

The investment in these 100,000 electric vans for delivery has meant an outlay of 5 billion dollars for Amazon, which we assume will be spread over several years to cover the full investment. This move will allow Rivian to take off with an order that lets it face its market launch with much more peace of mind than it would have had so far, which is not bad at all either.