Amazon co-founded The Climate Pledge in 2019 and made a commitment to achieve net-zero carbon by 2040. As part of that Pledge, Amazon also announced a partnership with Rivian to bring 100,000 electric delivery vehicles on the road by 2030 and got to work on designing a new state-of-the-art delivery vehicle.
In three short years, a simple sketch turned into the custom electric delivery vehicles on the road today. With its commitment to have all 100,000 electric delivery vehicles on the road by 2030, Amazon will eliminate millions of metric tons of carbon per year.
Check out the following Q&As to learn more about Amazon’s custom vans and what Amazon is doing to decarbonize its transportation network.
When did Amazon first roll out its custom electric delivery vans? What is Amazon’s progress so far?
Amazon began rolling out its electric delivery vans in the summer of 2022 and now has more than 15,000 across the U.S.
Amazon has also brought the custom vans to Europe and announced more than 300 will hit the road in Germany, joining a fleet of thousands of electric vans already in operation in Europe.
How many U.S. cities currently have the custom vans delivering for Amazon? Where can you find them?
Amazon’s custom electric vans are on the road making deliveries in thousands of cities across the country, including Alpharetta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Cleveland, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, Denver, Grand Rapids, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Madison, Miami, Nashville, New York, Newark, Oakland, Omaha, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, Provo, Rochester, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Jose, Santa Rosa, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa and Toledo. Amazon is also rolling out vans in Anaheim, Green Bay, Lexington, and Silver Spring.
How many packages has Amazon delivered using its electric vans?
To date, Amazon’s vans from Rivian have delivered more than 800 million packages to customers in the U.S.
What are some of the most innovative features of the vans? How do the custom electric vans make deliveries easier and safer for drivers?
Amazon’s custom electric vehicles are packed with industry-leading safety, navigation, and design features, including the following:
- A safety-first design focused on superior 360-degree visibility, and vehicle features that protect drivers and pedestrians.
- A suite of innovative safety features, including sensor detection, a large windshield to enhance driver visibility, automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, and collision warnings.
- First-of-its-kind embedded technology that fully integrates the delivery workflow with the vehicle, enabling seamless access to routing, navigation, driver support, package organization, and more.
- Features to enhance the driver experience, and create ease on the road, such as automatic door locking/unlocking as the driver approaches or leaves the vehicle, and a powered bulkhead door that opens when drivers reach their delivery location.
- Ventilated seats for fast heating and cooling.
- A strengthened door on the driver’s side for additional protection and an ergonomically designed driver’s cabin and cargo area for safe, easy movement inside the van.
Get a behind-the-scenes tour of an Amazon Delivery Service Partner driver’s experience with our electric vans in Baltimore.
How many chargers has Amazon installed to support its electric delivery vans?
Amazon has installed over 17,000 chargers at more than 120 delivery stations across the U.S.
What else is Amazon doing to decarbonize its transportation network?
In addition to ordering 100,000 custom electric delivery vehicles from Rivian, Amazon has put more than 15 models of electric vehicles on the road, including delivery vehicles, e-cargo bikes, and e-rickshaws, to test and learn across the U.S., the European Union, and India.
Amazon remains committed to delivering products safely while continuing to innovate and find new ways to reduce packaging and increase recyclability. Since 2015, we have invested in materials, processes, and technologies that have reduced per-shipment packaging weight by 41%, on average, representing more than 2.1 million tons of packaging materials avoided. Amazon has replaced 95% of the plastic air pillows from delivery packaging in North America with paper filler, working toward full removal by the end of the year.
Amazon is also investing in solutions like green hydrogen and other alternative fuel methods, such as ultra-low carbon electrofuels, for our delivery and operations.
Amazon also announced plans to invest more than 1 billion euros over the next five years to further electrify and decarbonize its transportation network across Europe, part of the company’s work to deliver packages to customers more sustainably. The investment is also intended to drive innovation across the industry and encourage more public charging infrastructure, which will help enable the broader transportation industry to more quickly reduce emissions.
Learn more about Rivian as well as Amazon’s partnership with the electric vehicle automaker and our sustainable transportation efforts.
