Deliver

The quiet (yet significant) rise of the electric delivery vehicle

Monday, January 27, 2020 by Snacks
_Vans don't have to be human-pushed to be sustainable_

Vans don't have to be human-pushed to be sustainable

Not as sexy as cars... But perhaps more formidable. While the news buzzes with shiny stories on Tesla and fancy new electric car models, one player in the electric push has gone relatively unnoticed: the electric delivery van. Big companies are realizing the 4-wheeled space between cars and semi trucks could become climate cursaders:

  • IKEA, DHL, AT&T and Amazon are creating an alliance to pressure EV makers to make electric delivery vans diverse/scalable enough for their massive fleets (IKEA said it will use EVs for all its home furniture deliveries by 2025)
  • Hyundai and Kia just invested over $110M in electric delivery vehical startup Arrival
  • Amazon has ordered 100K electric vans from Rivian back in September, the largest order of EV delivery vehicles ever (as part of its pledge to become carbon neutral by 2040)

As e-commerce delivery continues to grow... More and more vans are hitting the streets. And companies like Amazon are increasingly incentivized to electrify their fleets to save money on fuel, gain independence from volatile oil/gas prices, and lower greenhouse gas emissions.

THE TAKEAWAY

The biggest shift to electric... may not come from consumers buying individual cars — it might come from companies buying work vehicles. This new EV alliance suggest that companies are enthusiastic about electric vehicles for the same reason Amazon is. These businesses operate some of the largest vehicle fleets in the world, and their investment in EV could move the needle faster than individual consumer purchases can. And the money coming from corporate budgets could fuel innovation in electric that filters down to consumer cars.

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