The all-electric Rivian van can now be ordered in the United States by just about any company that needs a zero-emissions fleet of delivery vehicles after the California-based EV maker ended its exclusivity agreement with e-commerce giant Amazon.
The news came via Rivian’s third-quarter financial report, and the company later added detailed information about the van on the Fleet section of its website, where all the specs and prices are revealed.
An interesting piece of information is that the battery-powered van is now apparently called the Electric Commercial Van, or ECV, whereas the Amazon version was dubbed the Electric Delivery Van (EDV). However, the Delivery nameplate remains as part of the trim levels, of which there are two.
Both are front-wheel-drive, powered by Rivian’s own Enduro electric motor, but they differ in terms of size, payload capacity, and weight rating.
The smallest, dubbed the Delivery 500, has an estimated range of 161 miles on a full charge and can carry up to 2,734 pounds in the back, while the gross vehicle weight rating is 9,350 lbs. It’s also 248.5 inches long, 96.4 in wide, 114.7 in tall, and has a wheelbase of 157.5 in, while the cargo volume is rated at 487 cubic feet.
The bigger Delivery 700 can drive up to 153 miles on a full charge and has a payload of 2,513 lbs, while the GVWR is 9,500 lbs. It’s also longer and wider and has a larger cargo volume, measuring 278 in long and 103.5 in wide, with a wheelbase of 187 in and a cargo volume of 652 cu ft. This one starts at $87,000.
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Rivian doesn’t say how big the battery of the ECV is, but we know from previous statements that it’s a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) unit, which means it can be used without worrying about degradation from zero to 100 percent state of charge (SoC) every day. Charging is done via the CCS1 inlet that can accept speeds of up to 100 kilowatts.
The electric van was developed with help from Amazon, which was previously the vehicle’s sole customer, with an order of 100,000 units that are poised to be delivered by 2030. Four years after the deal was announced, 10,000 electric vans hit the roads. Some were deployed to Europe but most of them were used the U.S., delivering more than 260 million packages to customers in over 1,800 cities across the country.
Although the exclusivity deal with Amazon is no longer in place, Rivian says it remains committed to fulfilling the original order of 100,000 units, while deliveries of non-Amazon electric vans are slated to begin next year.
“We’re excited to open sales of our electric commercial van to more businesses. Around a quarter of CO2 emitted in the transportation sector in the US comes from commercial vehicles, so it’s imperative we do all we can as soon as possible to help cut emissions,” said RJ Scaringe, CEO of Rivian.“Amazon is, and will remain, a key partner for us, and we look forward to continuing to work closely with the Amazon team as we help them to achieve their Climate Pledge goal.”
As for the question that’s on all of our minds now: When will it be available as a camper van for electric RV-ing? We’ll ask Rivian the next chance we get.