Amazon and Rivian unveiled a fleet of electric delivery vehicles that will start making deliveries on Thursday in cities across the U.S.

Amazon will start making deliveries in the custom-made Rivian electric vehicles in places like Chicago, Dallas, Nashville, Phoenix and San Diego as soon as this week, according to an Amazon statement. The partnership is part of Amazon’s $1.3 billion-plus investment in the manufacturing company.

The delivery vehicles are being manufactured in Rivian’s plant in downstate Normal. Amazon has tested deliveries with Rivian pre-production vehicles, reportedly delivering over 430,000 packages and covering over 90,000 miles since 2021.

Many of Amazon's delivery stations are now equipped with charging stations and the company says it will continue to build infrastructure to support its growing number of electric delivery vehicles.

The companies are touting innovations in the new vehicles, such as "360-degree visibility," sensor detection, automatic emergency braking and low-cost batteries.

The adoption of EVs is part of Amazon’s goal to reach net-zero carbon by 2040 under its climate pledge. The company projects that there will be thousands of these vehicles on the road in 100 cities by the end of this year and 100,000 by 2030.

“Today represents an important step, not just for Amazon and Rivian as partners, but also for transportation and the environment,” RJ Scaringe, CEO of Rivian, said in the statement. “In 2019, Rivian and Amazon committed to fast-tracking a new type of delivery vehicle that would result in a significant reduction of carbon emissions . . . we’re thrilled to see this partnership has kick-started decarbonization projects across the logistics delivery industry.”

In an interesting twist, Rivian’s deal with Amazon gives the retail giant the latitude to purchase vehicles from other companies. Amazon can buy electric trucks from Rivian’s competitors under its agreement with the startup, but Rivian can’t sell trucks to any other company during the agreement's terms. The e-commerce behemoth has also ordered vehicles from Stellantis.

The launch follows news from earlier this month of potential nonmanufacturing layoffs at Rivian, which could result in a reduction of approximately 5% of its staff. The manufacturer increased its workforce in the last year to ramp up production to fulfill its growing number of pre-orders for its R1T and R1S models. The company received 90,000 pre-orders as of March.

Amazon and Rivian aren’t the only companies embarking on an electric delivery vehicle partnership. Just last week, it was reported that Walmart is partnering with Canoo, a manufacturer with a presence in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Michigan and California. The big-box store ordered 4,500 vehicles, with the option to purchase up to 10,000, according to Bloomberg.

Walmart, too, has entered into agreements with other electric and autonomous vehicle companies like General Motors’ BrightDrop and startup Gatik, founded in 2017, to augment its own delivery fleet.

Staying current is easy with Crain's news delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge. Click below to see everything we have to offer.

Get the best business coverage in Chicago, from breaking news to razor-sharp analysis, in print and online.

130 E. Randolph St. Suite 3200 Chicago, IL 60601 E-mail our editor 1-877-812-1590