A year and a half after Amazon announced it would buy 100,000 electric trucks to reduce its carbon footprint, Amazon says it has started using prototype vehicles for real-world deliveries in Los Angeles. Amazon hopes to spend a few more months testing the vehicles before mass production begins later this year.
Amazon placed the massive order for Rivian, a startup that raised billions of dollars to build electric trucks. Amazon is a rivian investor.
Rivian designed an electric skateboard truck platform that can be used to build a wide variety of vehicles. Rivian plans to start deliveries of his flagship pickup, the R1T, and the R1S SUV later this year.
“Last mile” delivery trucks are a good application for electric vehicles because trucks tend to travel relatively short distances with many stops and starts. Amazon says the new Rivian delivery trucks have a range of 150 miles. Amazon says it “started to prepare its buildings to accommodate the new vehicle fleet and installed thousands of electric vehicle charging stations at its delivery stations in North America and Europe.”
The purchase of electric trucks is part of Amazon’s overall project to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2040. Amazon plans to use 80% renewable energy by 2024 and 100% by 2030. The company wants to have 10,000 electric delivery trucks in Next year roads. In 2019, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said he expected to have all 100,000 Rivian vehicles on the roads by 2024.
Since electric motors are very quiet, regulations require electric vehicles to make an artificial sound when moving at low speeds. People who have seen Amazon’s new trucks in the wild report that they make a futuristic sound that is loud and annoying – although that may change with future versions of the vehicle.