Rivian is making a direct pitch to fleet buyers left stranded by Ford’s decision to discontinue the F-150 Lightning electric pickup.
“Dear Fleet Managers — Were your Lightning orders canceled? Rivian can help!” Seth Parks, Rivian’s Senior Manager for Fleet Sales & Management, wrote on LinkedIn Wednesday, in a post first spotted by Rivian owner Chris Hilbert on X.
Parks highlighted that Rivian‘s R1T pickup is “made in Illinois and available today in crew cab short bed configuration with standard AWD, 258 to 420 miles range.”
The 2026 Rivian R1T is priced from $72,990. The entry price was recently increased as new features — like the Tonneau Cover — were made standard with every purchase.
Last month, Ford said it would end production of the all-electric F-150 Lightning as part of an EV business restructuring that resulted in a $19.5 billion impairment charge.
According to the Detroit automaker’s CEO Jim Farley, “the very high-end EVs, the $50,000, $70,000, $80,000 vehicles, they just weren’t selling.”
The F-150 Lightning was priced between $57,375 and $87,590.
F-150 Lightning saw US sales plunge 60% year-over-year to 4,273 units in the fourth quarter, while rival Rivian‘s R1T pickup fell 35% to 1,559 units, according to Kelley Blue Book data released earlier this week.
For the full year, F-150 Lightning sales dropped 18.5% to 27,307 units, while R1T deliveries declined 33% to 7,416 units.
Fleet Events
Additionally, the manager revealed that Rivian will be present in several fleet-related events across the US in the upcoming months.
These include participation in the federal government’s General Services Administration (GSA) FedFleet, taking place in Washington DC, on January 27–28, and Geotab Connect, to be held in Las Vegas from February 10–12.
Rivian will also attend Work Truck Week, hosted by NTEA – The Work Truck Association, in Indianapolis from March 10–13.
Fleet Sales
A few weeks ago, Senior Manager Seth Parks confirmed the exact number of vehicles delivered to California’s transport authority ‘Caltrans’ last year, after several vehicles were spotted on the road.
“In June of 2025, Caltrans placed an order for 138 R1S SUVs and 315 R1T pickups,” he wrote.
According to the fleet manager, “Rivian fulfilled the last of 453 units, all upfitted and delivered in just 200 days.”
Earlier this month, the EV maker secured a contract with Sourcewell, a government agency that helps public organizations establish contracts with various companies while reducing the bureaucracy associated with their proposals.
Its vehicles are now available for purchase to over 50,000 participating entities, through its ‘Cooperative Purchasing Program.’
According to data disclosed by the company in the public contract with Sourcewell, Rivian has sold around 700 vehicles to government entities in the space of three years.
Most of Rivian’s public-sector contracts were likely secured last year, with existing agreements covering California, Utah, and Washington, DC.
In Rivian’s home state of California, several public agencies already operate its vehicles, including the Contra Costa Fire Department, the Palo Alto Police Department, and the federally recognized San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians.
According to the images shared by Parks on LinkedIn, Rivian vehicles are also in use by the County of Riverside’s Transportation Department and the Coronado Lifeguards.
The premium EV maker previously donated vehicles to the Laguna Beach Lifeguards, but it is unclear whether the Coronado Lifeguards purchased their vehicle.
Private fleet sales figures remain unknown.
Rivian EDVs
Rivian opened orders for fleet customers nearly a year ago, mainly focused on its electric delivery van, specifically built for fleets, as it was initially developed for Amazon.
However, up until now, Rivian has only officially announced its first major client — food delivery company HelloFresh.
In November, pizza delivery app Slice shared images of branded Rivian vehicles, marking the EV maker’s second publicly disclosed commercial fleet contract.
Other companies were previously seen testing the vans, but no deals have been announced yet.
Additionally, the company’s EDV sales fell year over year in 2025, according to Cox Automotive data.
Most of the Rivian EDVs produced up until now have been delivered to Amazon, its first client and a major backer of the EV maker since 2019, which has purchased 100,000 units to be delivered by 2030.
The latest figures published by the retail giant showed more than 35,000 Amazon-branded electric delivery vans on the road in total.
Speaking with Goldman Sachs analyst Mark Delaney last September, Scaringe had admitted that the electrification of the commercial business has “gone slower than we thought it would.”
Despite that, the executive said he expects that “the commercial space will electrify” until 2030.
