Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) has been a prominent backer of Rivian (NASDAQ:RIVN) and was the company’s largest 13F shareholder with a stake of over 155 million shares as of the second quarter. Back in 2019, the e-commerce giant led a $700 million investment round into the electric vehicle (EV) company. That same year, Amazon also disclosed that it had placed an order for 100,000 Rivian Electric Delivery Vans (EDVs) with an expected completion date of 2024. This date was later pushed back to 2030.
During a business presentation yesterday, Amazon disclosed that it now has 10,000 EDVs on the road in the U.S. and Europe, compared with over 5,000 in July. Combined, these EVs have now made more than 260 million deliveries.
RIVN Stock: Amazon Has 10,000 Rivian Vans on the Road
Amazon’s fleet of EDVs is part of the company’s Climate Pledge, which has a goal of Amazon becoming a net-zero carbon emissions company by 2040. Today, Amazon’s EDVs are active in over 1,800 cities across the States. These vehicles need an efficient charging network, which is supported by Amazon’s network of 12,000 chargers across 100 delivery stations in the country. Still, Amazon hasn’t limited itself to just Rivian. The company utilizes over 15 EV models in its fleet, such as e-cargo bikes and e-rickshaws.
In March, it was announced that Rivian was in talks with Amazon to renegotiate the exclusivity part of their contract, which would allow Rivian to sell its EDVs to other companies. Earlier this year, Amazon disclosed that it intended to order 10,000 vans in 2023. This figure was near the low range that it had communicated to Rivian, which may have not sat well with Rivian and may have led it to wanting to renegotiate the contract. In the meantime, Amazon has explored other clean energy opportunities.
“Amazon is also investing in solutions like green hydrogen and other alternative fuel methods, such as ultra-low carbon electrofuels, for our delivery and operations,” Amazon notes on its website.
Rivian seems to be chugging along just fine in comparison to other EV competitors. During the third quarter, Rivian produced 16,304 vehicles and delivered 15,564 of them. Analysts on average had forecast for 14,000 deliveries. These numbers are in-line with the firm’s 2023 production guidance of 52,000 vehicles.
On the date of publication, Eddie Pan held a long position in AMZN. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
