When you’re looking for a new product, you do some online research, watch some YouTube tutorials, read some customer reviews, and then get on Amazon and place the order.
What happens when Amazon wants something? Well, they read some blogs, make some phone calls, meet with some people, and then place an order for a hundred thousand units.
Here’s what you might have missed during the chaos of 2020.
Amazon delivers 2 to 3 billion packages per year. In 2019, they went from delivering 1 in 5 of their own packages to delivering 1 in 2. That’s right, they deliver half of their own packages.
It’s no secret the Amazon is always looking for ways to innovate. The company ordered 100,000 electric vans from a company called Rivian, based in Michigan.
If you work in the transport industry, you probably didn’t hear about this. You were busy scanning headlines about venture capital companies investing millions in a vehicle manufacturer. Here’s why this news is different.
This order from Amazon, 100,000 electric vans, is another form of investment. Probably the best kind because it goes right to the product. For Rivian, it’s about $4 billion, which is massive for any startup.
The first vans are expected to hit the streets in 2021. Eventually, these fleets will be self-driving, and they’ll run for 400 miles on a single charge. That’s a lot of local package delivery.
“We’re trying to build the most sustainable transportation fleet in the world. It also needs to be the most functional, the highest performing, the safest.” –Amazon
Placing an order for 100,000 electric vans isn’t just a play for political points about sustainability. $4 billion is a business investment. We should pay attention.