If you live in or near any of the United States' major cities, the chances are you've already seen them. With their distinctive headlights, large windshields, and curved body shape, Amazon's new electric delivery vans certainly make an impression. The company spent over $1 billion on Rivian in the last year, according to Puget Sound Business Journal.
The EDV700, manufactured by Rivian, is a key component of Amazon's goal to achieve net-zero carbon pollution by 2040. Amazon is the largest institutional shareholder of Rivian stock, according to Yahoo Finance, and its orders account for a significant portion of Rivian's revenue. The first 20,000 of a potentially 100,000-strong order of vans have been delivered, along with the charging infrastructure.
As the name implies, the EVD700 features 700 feet of cargo space and can travel 150-200 miles between charges. Amazon claims that it went from a concept sketch to production in just three years. Rivian vans delivered over a billion packages last year, and this number is expected to increase after Rivian ended its exclusive deal with Amazon in late 2023. And as Dairy Foods reported, the same fleet model is being adapted to make ice cream trucks for Ben & Jerry's.
Last-mile deliveries undertaken by vans account for around 20-30% of a city's harmful emissions, according to reporting by the European Commission. Demand for e-commerce surged during the COVID-19 pandemic and is projected to increase by another 30% by the end of the decade.
While critics have pointed out that the company "drastically undercounts" its pollution footprint, and it still has a long way to go, electrifying its delivery fleet is certainly a positive step.
Of course, Amazon isn't going electric entirely out of benevolence; electric delivery vans are a sound business decision, too. Those last-mile deliveries are one of the biggest expenses for online retailers, and charging the vans at a delivery center will cost much less than gassing them up.
Electric vehicles also require less maintenance, with no oil changes, in addition to charging costing less than paying for gas. Delivery vans tend to be major gas guzzlers due to their size and weight. For example, the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter achieves a fuel economy of only 15-21 miles per gallon. With that in mind, it's not hard to see how electric delivery vehicles are a win-win situation for the company and for the environment.
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