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| Amazon tests electric delivery trucks in Los Angeles |
The two companies announced Wednesday that Amazon will test some electric vehicles developed in partnership with Rivian Automotive on Los Angeles highways.
In September 2019, Amazon announced that it would purchase 100,000 Rivian electric trucks. This is one of its goals to achieve net carbon-free emissions by 2040.
As part of this commitment, Amazon created a fund and invested in Rivian.
E-commerce giants launched a version of their delivery truck in October last year.
Amazon now says it will test dedicated electric cars in as many as 16 different cities in 2021.
“The electrical work is a source of pride and happiness for the company,” Ross Ratchy, Amazon's Global Fleet and Product Manager, said in a statement.
"This step will force Amazon to install thousands of chargers in North America and Europe, change the electrical design, and plan to ship facilities," he added.
The company built a test fleet for Amazon at its headquarters in Plymouth, Michigan. Both companies stated that each truck can travel 150 miles with a single load.
These vehicles are still in the testing phase and their design and functionality could be changed before production begins. Rivian's goal is to achieve this by the end of 2021.
Rivian is expected to be one of the first to launch an all-electric pickup truck later this year.
While Rivian is still a private company, it has become a major competitor to Tesla and has raised nearly $ 8 billion since 2019.
Demand for light trucks (including vans) is expected to increase in the United States over the next few years.
One reason for this is that President Biden has committed, as part of his "Buy America" program, to replacing the federal government's internal combustion engine fleet with cleaner, quieter electric motors.
According to the Public Services Agency, the Federal fleet includes more than 400,000 trucks, many of which are used by the US Postal Service.
Daimler, General Motors, and other companies are developing and selling lightweight battery-powered electric trucks in some cases.