Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ: RIVN) have been partners in an electric delivery van deal since the EV company went public in 2021. Here's a look at the recent milestone hit and what's next for both companies.
What Happened: Amazon partnered with Rivian, a company it invested in prior to the 2021 IPO, on a deal for 100,000 electric delivery vehicles with a goal to have all the vehicles on the road by 2030.
With six years left to go, Amazon is one-fifth of the way to that goal, which is part of an overall Climate Pledge to have net-zero carbon emissions by 2040.
Amazon had its first Rivian EDV on the road in 2022 and now has over 20,000 of the Rivian vehicles in its fleet, according to a report from Teslarati.
While the majority of the vehicles are operating in the United States, Amazon is also using the electric delivery vans in Europe.
For Amazon, the use of the electric delivery vans gets the company closer to its goal of net-zero carbon emissions, while also making things more efficient for drivers.
In 2024, over one billion Amazon packages have been delivered using the Rivian electric delivery vans.
What's Next: Though the 20,000 milestone may only be one-fifth of the way to the 100,000 goal, it has been rapidly increasing. In March 2023, Amazon had only 3,000 of the Rivian vans in its fleet according to the report.
Amazon will continue to anticipate deliveries of the Rivian vehicles to meet its climate goals and to streamline driver efficiency.
For Rivian, the Amazon 100,000 unit order remains a key priority and can help provide a strong cushion of production and delivery unit figures as it awaits its new consumer vehicle models.
Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe shared earlier this year that the electric delivery vans for Amazon rolled out slower than anticipated.
Back in November 2023, Rivian announced that it had amended its deal with Amazon to no longer be exclusive.
"We have amended our Amazon agreement with terms and conditions, which provide the opportunity to sell commercial vans to other customers, helping more companies reduce their CO2 emissions," Scaringe said at the time.
Rivian also said at the time that it was in "active discussions" with other potential EDV fleet customers. In December 2023, Rivian announced a deal with AT&T Inc (NYSE: T).
Amazon remains a large shareholder in Rivian with a reported stake of around 16%. The e-commerce leader will continue to collect deliveries of Rivian EDVs.
For Rivian, the company will deliver vehicles to Amazon and also look to diversify to other customers as it grows its EDV segment alongside its consumer vehicle division.
RIVN Price Action: Rivian stock is down 1% to $12.98 on Thursday versus a 52-week trading range of $8.26 to $24.61. Rivian stock is down 39% year-to-date in 2024 and down around 90% since its market debut in 2021.