A few units of unbranded Rivian electric delivery vans (EDV) have been spotted in an Amazon center in Indiana, sparking speculation about its purpose.
On Tuesday, Reddit user ‘Affectionate_Rent701’ shared that they had spotted a few units of what appears to be Rivian‘s Delivery 500 van — a slightly smaller version of the Delivery 700 vans that are included in Amazon‘s fleet.
Additionally, the vans did not display the retail giant’s branding.
The vans that operate under the company are blue and feature its logo on the front, as opposed to Rivian‘s.
Several users on Reddit Forum ‘AmazonDSPDrivers’, a subreddit for Amazon Delivery Service Partners, have speculated about the purpose of these vans, which are unusual in the area.
User ‘Exotic-Relation-3980’ pointed out that the vehicles seemed to be in the DIN4 lot, a detail later confirmed by the original poster.
The DIN4 lot is part of Amazon‘s fulfillment center in Greenwood, Indiana, which also includes a 100,000-square-foot warehouse.
User ‘Herbagerber’ wrote that their “DSP is renting 9 or 10 of them for peak season, I think they’re a bit shorter than the regular EDV’s.”
EDV Leasing
It is unclear whether the “renting” process of these specific units is done with Amazon or an external company.
As DSPs, business owners get access to “branded Amazon vehicles customized for delivery,” among other deals, as stated by the company on its website.
While the partner is “responsible for procuring delivery vehicles for its operations,” it “has negotiated a ‘flexible lease’ option that enables you to lease Amazon-branded vehicles designed specifically for this program from a third-party fleet management company.”
Replying to the previous mentioned comment, the original poster said, “I thought we all were assigned them.”
“There’s I swear to god like 30-40 blue branded ones with the seats still wrapped taking up the whole north end of the lot. So we’ll see who gets those,” they added.
Service Vans
Replying to a comment by ‘LordTinkleBottom,’ who wrote that these vans had been “originally designed as service technician vehicles for Rivian,” the original poster noted that a service shop is currently under construction at the lot.
“Another 5 just showed up this morning. They’re building a service shop on my lot right now as well. Wonder if it’s related,” they wrote.
This could indicate that the vans will be used on Rivian‘s Mobile Service, which has been provided through adapted delivery vans since 2023 and is likely set to expand to Europe after only being available in North America.
Amazon, which is currently the largest shareholder in Rivian (set to be surpassed by Volkswagen), purchased 100,000 Rivian EDVs back in 2019, with the EV maker committing to deliver them until 2030.
Recently, Rivian‘s chief executive RJ Scaringe hinted at a contract expansion beyond the 100,000 units.
Amazon currently has “more than 35,000” electric delivery vans operating globally, which includes not only the United States but also Canada and Europe.
The first Rivian vans were first seen in Germany two years ago. There are currently “over 300” EDVs operating in the continent, according to Amazon.
The two companies stated in 2023 that they have “designed a shorter, thinner van than its US counterpart, in order to better fit in Europe’s cities.”
The vehicles are used to “deliver packages across major cities including Munich, Berlin and Dusseldorf.”
