Rivian’s electrical van is now out there to be bought by anybody with a industrial fleet, the automaker stated at present.
For a number of years, Rivian’s van was unique to Amazon. Now, the platform on which the e-commerce big based mostly its supply van is open to anybody with a fleet of business automobiles and a few cash to burn.
Amazon agreed to purchase 1000,000 Rivian vans in 2019 as a part of a blockbuster deal that will additionally embody a $1 billion funding into the startup. Under the phrases of the settlement, Rivian would promote its vans completely to Amazon.
But that partnership ended prematurely in November 2023, with Amazon solely buying round 20,000 vans from Rivian — or about 20 p.c of the unique dedication. Amazon stays Rivian’s largest shareholder, with an estimated 17 p.c stake within the firm.
Rivian says it’s going to promote anyplace from a single van to hundreds to particular person consumers, relying on their wants. However, the vans can’t be for private use (sorry #vanlifers) and have to be registered as a part of a enterprise. The vans are available in two sizes and two costs: the RCV 500 begins at $79,900, whereas the RCV 700 begins at $83,900.
Rivian says it has spent the time because the finish of its exclusivity cope with Amazon trialing the van in some bigger fleets (like AT&T’s), whereas additionally constructing out a service and software program enterprise for its future van prospects.
“Over the final yr now we have been focusing our efforts on testing with some bigger fleets, and we’re actually happy with how these trials have gone,” stated Tom Solomon, senior director of enterprise improvement at Rivian, in an announcement. “As a consequence, we’re excited to now have the ability to open gross sales to fleets of all sizes within the US, whether or not they need 1 van or hundreds.”
The electrical van market has been unstable. General Motors spun off after which reabsorbed BrightDrop, its electrical industrial automobile enterprise, after deciding the market was too fragile for BrightDrop to face by itself. Ford has seen some success with its E-Transit vans, promoting 12,610 of them in 2024, which was a 64 p.c enhance from 2023. And Mercedes-Benz revealed its eSprinter van in 2023, with deliveries anticipated to start later this yr.
Being capable of promote its electrical vans to a wider pool of shoppers might be good for Rivian’s monetary scenario, which has been comparatively shaky over the previous few years. The vans have higher revenue margins than the corporate’s R1T and R1S automobiles. And Rivian can even promote subscriptions to the varied software program options inside the van, boosting its long-term worth general.
