- The Rivian-made Amazon electric delivery truck was spotted during road testing in Irvine, Calif, along with three Rivian R1T electric pickup trucks.
- The delivery trucks are expected to officially join Amazon’s fleet starting sometime in 2023 with the e-commerce giant reportedly ordering 100,000 vehicles so far.
- Rivian will further launch the R1T electric pickup truck alongside the R1S electric SUV by summer 2021 as both vehicles see a surge in demand.
EV startup Rivian has struck a deal to deliver 100,000 electric delivery trucks to Amazon. This is part of a broader investment made by Amazon in the EV maker. A new leak over the weekend is giving us a good glimpse of this delivery truck in the wild, albeit with a protective covering on it to mask its identity.
The electric delivery truck was spotted alongside three Rivian R1T electric pickup trucks, so it was clear that this was a test exercise for all of its production vehicles. The images were taken near Rivian’s production facility in Irvine, California.
The masking of the front portion indicates that Rivian is planning to sell these electric delivery vans to other providers in addition to Amazon. It’s worth noting that Amazon led Rivian’s funding round with a $700 million investment earlier this year. These electric delivery trucks are expected to pair with Amazon’s delivery ecosystem sometime in 2023.
Rivian, meanwhile, also has the R1T pickup truck along with the R1S which is expected to be a more conventional electric SUV. The company has already sold out on the stock for the Early Edition of the R1T, speaking volumes about the interest in Rivian’s upcoming electric vehicles.
Both the R1T and the R1S EVs are expected to reach early customers by June 2021, though we’ve come across reports that talked about the company prioritizing the arrival of the R1T given the demand. Both vehicles are expected to offer more than 300 miles of range. The company has said that it will launch an extended 400-mile battery pack for the R1T by January 2022.
Amazon has recently shown off the electric delivery truck in a blog post while also detailing the interiors as well as other attributes. So this merely confirms what we already knew about the upcoming delivery truck.
What do you make of this new leak?
Via: The Drive