In the future, Amazon parcels will be delivered more and more frequently in German cities by new electric delivery vans from the US manufacturer Rivian. A fleet of 300 vans is now making the start.
The US electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian supplies Amazon with electric delivery vans worldwide. In Germany, 300 of the vehicles will be put into operation in three major German cities in the coming days, as the companies announced.
Narrower version of the Transporter model
The online mail order company and Internet giant Amazon has long been a huge logistics group with its own fleet of vehicles for the delivery of its shipments. According to the company, the e-transporters specially developed for Amazon will initially be used for deliveries in Munich, Berlin and Düsseldorf.
For the European market, Rivian has developed a shorter and narrower version of its transporter, the EDV-500 model. The larger EDV-700 is in use in the USA. According to the company, more than 3,000 Rivian vehicles are in use there.
According to Amazon, it intends to use up to 100,000 Rivian delivery vans worldwide by 2030. Amazon already has around 3,000 electric delivery vans in service in Europe.
The EDV-500 should have a range of around 200 kilometers with one battery charge, even in winter. With a length of 6.31 meters, the vehicle is significantly more compact than the US version, which measures around seven meters, as reported by the trade journal “auto, motor & sport”.
Amazon has a stake in Rivian
Amazon has taken a stake in Rivian to ensure delivery of the vehicles for years to come. In 2019, the US group joined the electric car company, which also competes with Tesla. Rivian builds an electric pickup truck and a large SUV in the United States. The manufacturer thus covers popular vehicle categories in the USA in which Tesla has not previously offered anything.
After delays in the production of Rivian, Amazon had to make value adjustments on its stake, which weighed on the internet giant’s balance sheet. If the deliveries of the Rivian transporters now work as planned, the US manufacturer could also make Tesla more competition in the e-vehicle market. Rivian presented good quarterly figures yesterday in New York. The share then gained around 17 percent.