For its San Francisco delivery services, Amazon has begun testing 100,000 Rivian electric vans with the hope of having at least 10,000 of them enter their fleet by early next year.
Alongside the purchase of such a large quantity of electric vans, they have begun adapting their entire supply chain process to the eventual integration of electric vehicles. Amazon has said they are, "actively re-configuring its delivery hubs for electric vehicles, 'ranging from the electrical design to the physical layout'."
Amazon is a clear leader for the commercial supply industry by setting the roadmap for companies to reconfigure their operations to include electric vehicles. Being able to adapt to new technology and operational processes exemplifies the resiliency of a company and its interest in growing alongside future industries that enter our economy.
They are also expanding their fleet to other brands, such as Mercedes-Benz EVs, and have already delivered, “more than 20 million packages with EVs in Europe and North American in 2020.”
Rivian is also working towards the start of the production of company's R1T pickup truck and R1S SUV, starting at a base price of around $70,000. With all startup EV costs, it not surprising that prices are starting high. However, as demand for EVs grow from individual consumers, commercial consumers, as well as investors, the automotive industry will one day have the necessary resources for cheap and efficient electrification technology.
