After $700M Rivian funding, Amazon orders 100,000 vans from EV startup
Amazon on Thursday introduced a spherical of measures aimed toward curbing its operations’ emissions. The corporate has set itself the purpose of turning into carbon impartial by 2040, or 10 years forward of the Paris Settlement’s purpose of 2050. Amazon can be difficult different firms to succeed in the purpose in what it’s calling the Local weather Pledge.
One of many measures Amazon plans to implement is to ship its packages utilizing battery-electric vans sourced from Rivian. Amazon has already dedicated to investing $700 million within the American EV startup and on Thursday it stated it’s going to order 100,000 vans. The primary of the electrical vans will begin delivering orders in 2021 and Amazon hopes to have all 100,000 on the street by 2030. The corporate estimates it will save round four million metric tons of carbon per yr.
Different measures embody switching to renewable power and investing in initiatives restoring and defending forests, wetlands, and peatlands world wide.
Jeff Bezos
“We’re accomplished being in the course of the herd on this challenge—we’ve determined to make use of our measurement and scale to make a distinction,” stated Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO and founder. “If an organization with as a lot bodily infrastructure as Amazon—which delivers greater than 10 billion objects a yr—can meet the Paris Settlement 10 years early, then any firm can.”
Coinciding with Amazon’s announcement, Rivian launched a single picture depicting the brand new electrical van it’s going to provide to Amazon. The van will share elements with Rivian’s R1T pickup truck and R1S SUV, together with its battery, and will probably be constructed on the identical plant in Regular, Illinois, as Rivian’s passenger autos.
Along with its funding from Amazon, Rivian in 2019 additionally booked a $350 million funding from on-line classifieds large Cox Automotive and $500 million from Ford. Rivian can even develop and manufacture an unannounced EV for Ford.