Rivian Automotive Inc. continues to fulfill its contract to deliver 100,000 electric delivery vans to Amazon.
Amazon announced Monday that it is continuing to roll out its Rivian-made electric delivery vans, now counting more than 1,000 vehicles in more than 100 US cities. This is up from the 12+ cities where the official rollout began in July.
The delivery vans will be piloted by select drivers from 2021 to test their performance and refine the operating system installed on the vehicles called FleetOS.
The expanded electric vehicle delivery service now includes cities such as Las Vegas, New York, Austin, Boston, Denver and Houston, according to Amazon.
According to Udit Madan, vice president of Amazon Transportation, Rivian electric vans have delivered more than 5 million packages to date. Executives called the reach expansion “just the beginning.”
Giten Bale, Rivian’s Chief Growth Officer, said in a statement: “So it’s great to see increased production to support Amazon’s deployment in cities across the country.”
Amazon, which owns about 18% stake in the automaker, was an early investor in Rivian before it went public.
The company’s delivery van order is also the first commercial contract Rivian has signed. A memorandum of understanding with Mercedes-Benz to jointly produce electric vans was signed in September. The car company also makes consumer vehicles such as the R1T truck and his R1S sport utility vehicle.
Amazon’s order includes 100,000 vans, which will help e-commerce companies aim to achieve net zero carbon by 2040.
These efforts are not limited to the United States
Amazon said last month that it would put more than 1 billion euros (roughly the equivalent of US dollars) into electrification and decarbonization efforts around its transport network in Europe. The investment will facilitate electric delivery vans, e-bikes and foot deliveries with the help of what are called “micro-mobility” delivery stations close to the end consumer.
Amazon and Rivian’s efforts represent electrification of the last mile. But Rivian’s ambition to electrify logistics more broadly came to light in August when the company’s second-quarter earnings were announced.
Rivian said it has responded to inquiries from users in its large fleet, and CEO RJ Scaringe said the company ultimately has the capacity to respond.
Scaringe said on the company’s second-quarter earnings call, “While we’ve increased our production lines and are delivering as many vehicles as possible to Amazon, we’re also doing some very large vehicles and some of these types of long-term operations. “And they’re certainly beginning to plan the path for these large fleets to go beyond the last mile… to full electrification, and we’re happy to support that plan.” I’m sure we’re doing it, but of course I’m including myself in that plan.”
Rivian, like many automakers, has struggled over the past few years with supply chain issues that have led to parts shortages.
Layoffs amounting to about 6% of the workforce reportedly hit the business in July. Scaringe said prior to curtailing these changes at the company, “prioritize (and shut down some) certain programs, halt certain non-manufacturing jobs, and reduce material and operating costs. We have notified our employees by letter because we are focusing on ‘adopting significant cost-cutting efforts to According to an internal memo the company provided to Sourcing Journal at the time of his dismissal.
As outlined in Scaringe’s letter, these priorities include expanding production of Rivian’s truck and sport utility vehicle models, in addition to electric delivery vans, built on what Rivian calls the R1 platform. It is included. Scaringe also said that Rivian will focus on building the vehicle charging infrastructure and “optimizing cost and operating expenses across the business.”
Founded in 2009, the company raised $10.5 billion before going public, with investors including Amazon, Ford Motor Company, Cox Automotive, T. Rowe Price Associates Inc., funds managed by BlackRock, Coatue and Fidelity. I have collected the roster.
Rivian first went public on the Nasdaq last November, one of the country’s largest initial public offerings, opening at $78 per share. It raised about $12 billion in its IPO and was valued at $100 billion.
Since then, the company’s stock has fallen, with a market capitalization of $27.4 billion and a price of $31.10 as of Monday.
Rivian is expected to report third quarter results on Wednesday.
