Amazon deliveries to go green with electric vans

Amazon’s speedy delivery might be cheap, but it comes at an environmental price. Recently though, the company has promised to clean up its act, quite literally, with its Climate Pledge, which aims to make its entire operations carbon neutral by 2040 and its shipping operations carbon neutral by 2030.

To get there, Amazon made its first big investment in clean tech by partnering with electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian. As New Atlas reports, Amazon put in an order for 100,000 electric vans that will cart its goods to delivery locations.

Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos hopes an electric delivery fleet will significantly reduce the company’s emissions, at least in this area of the business. (The electric vans won’t help with the notoriously grueling schedules Amazon drivers face to meet the company’s one- and two-day delivery promises though.)

Rivian first showed off an electric pickup and SUV last year. Its vans will reportedly be able to drive 400 miles on a single charge and become autonomous eventually. The first electric Amazon vans are set to hit the road by 2021, with all 100,000 of the fleet deployed by 2030.