This week, Amazon announced that the company will begin testing its current fleet of cartoon-looking EVs in San Francisco, increasing the growing number of clean energy delivery cars and public transportation vehicles crossing our streets.
The era of fossil fuel-free energy is approaching. (And if there is anything: the United States and other developed countries in the world are making huge, ahead of schedule moves to ban and replace all ICE vehicles in the next one or two decades.) Increasing the number of quiet cars passing through San Francisco will be Amazon’s new electric delivery vehicles, designed and produced by Michigan-based automaker Rivian.
The Rivian Adventure Network is bringing fast DC loading to routes in the United States and Canada – such as along California’s Hwy 395 – with more than 3,500 fast chargers in more than 600 locations by the end of 2023. Visit our blog for details about all of our charging solutions. https://t.co/nKBAZyeN7k pic.twitter.com/LuoTpgRATb
– Rivian (@Rivian) March 18, 2021
“As we continue to grow and invest in California, we want to do it responsibly, so we are excited about customers in the bay area to see these vehicles crossing their neighborhoods,” Ross Rachey, director of Global Fleet and Products at Amazon , said in a statement, by a press release.
This news also comes after a recent $ 200 million investment in a new delivery station in SF – signaling Amazon’s effort to significantly increase deliveries in the city.
“From what we’ve seen, this is one of the fastest and most modern commercial electrification programs, and we’re incredibly proud of it,” adds Rachey. Although the exact number around how many of these vehicles will be sailing around the city has not yet been mentioned, the e-commerce giant plans to order 100,000 Rivian vans – which will be of varying sizes, with some models capable of carrying more than 900 cubic feet of packages and driving 150 miles with cargo – and will start operating their fleets full-time as soon as 2022.
Amazon’s EV presence comes at a time when autonomous vehicle companies like Waymo and Cruise are expanding their vehicle fleet (all fully electric or EV hybrids) to test in San Francisco.
At this rate, who knows: robotic dogs may soon leave packages at the door of our apartment.
Related: Waymo launches “totally driverless” taxis (Phoenix only), Elon Musk soaked with jealous tweets
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Image: Rivian’s R1T, a fully electric pick-up, is displayed at the Amazon booth during CES 2020 at the Las Vegas Convention Center on January 7, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. CES, the largest annual consumer technology trade fair in the world, runs through January 10 and features about 4,500 exhibitors showing their latest products and services to more than 170,000 attendees. (Photo by David Becker / Getty Images)