Amazon Inc. shares what’s going on behind the scenes on the 100,000 electric delivery vans that they ordered from Rivian Automotive last year, the van has crossed the concept design stage and a clay model is in place at the R&D lab which looks like a joint working location of both companies, since Amazon is also a large shareholder in the company as well.
According to Amazon estimates, the first batch of these 100k electric delivery vans will start delivering packages to the company’s customers in 2021, this is one of the several projects that Rivian is currently working on simultaneously.
Rivian has to start deliveries of their R1T Pickup Truck and the R1S SUV late this year as they have promised time to time, in another behind the scenes video Rivian has shared the progress on their gigantic plant in Normal, Illinois.
Amazon’s needs for an electric delivery van were unique, the storage space inside the vehicle is custom design to maximize package storge and automation, Amazon uses a lot of robots, a lot! — now sustainability is a big part of Amazon’s ambitions, Ross Rachey, Director, Global Last-Mile Fleet said:
We’re trying to build the most sustainable transportation fleet in the world, so 100,000 units, that’s a large volume of vehicles, we have to get this right!
In addition to sustainability, the Amazon’s van seems to have some tricks up its sleeve too, like one of the screenshots we see above shows the vehicle’s bumper is designed in parts and is totally replaceable, this approach might cut down a pile of repair requests, costs, and time when this big of a fleet is functional.
Some other shots from the video also show that the R&D on Amazon’s delivery van has been very extensive, an employee is also shown driving the van in virtual reality, the steering wheel assembly might have been installed on Rivian‘s skateboard platform, but they never showed the whole shot of this setup.
Technologically Rivian and Amazon are trying to create the next generation of delivery vans, As Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe said in the video:
it’s going to be an iconic vehicle…
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