Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has announced Rivian, an electric vehicle startup that took a $700 million investment from the online retailer, is going to make 100,000 electric delivery vans for them.

At the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Bezos announced plans to address climate change, and the new electric delivery vehicles were part of the announcement.

The CEO said that the agreement was made official, and Amazon is committed to buying 100,000 electric delivery vans from Rivian to be deployed between 2021 and 2024.

To date, Rivian has only announced plans to build an electric pickup truck, the Rivian R1T, and an electric SUV, the Rivian R1S.

It looks like Bezos jumped the gun and announced that Amazon was buying a product that hasn’t been announced yet, but we are told that Rivian is going to announce more details next about its electric van.

In February, Rivian took a $700 million round of funding led by Amazon, and at the time, they were discussing opportunities to work together.

Rivian plans to bring its electric pickup truck and SUV to production late next year.

Based on Bezos’ timeline, it sounds like Rivian’s new commercial electric van would follow soon after the consumer passenger vehicles.

Electrek’s Take

I think most people saw this coming when Rivian took the investment from Amazon.

To be honest, I think Amazon is late to the game here. Most of their delivery vehicles should be electric already.

Delivery vans are perfect for electrification. They have relatively short routes with a lot of city driving, and the gas savings make them economically viable.

But I am glad that they are now going electric in a big way.

We are talking about an order worth billions at this point.

I am curious to see Rivian’s electric van and what the specs will be. Rivian has already impressed with the specs of its electric pickup truck, but it’s different to make a commercial vehicle.