Rivian began delivering all-wheel-drive and larger-battery versions of its electric delivery van in early October, the company said, a step toward taking the vans beyond the suburban routes where most of them run.
The new variants are “specifically designed to expand route coverage into more rural networks,” Rivian said in its third-quarter earnings presentation on Thursday. It said the larger battery pack “offers a 30% increase in range.”
The company had not previously said when deliveries would start. It first disclosed the variants in its February 12 shareholder letter, and Founder and CEO RJ Scaringe said on the July 30 earnings call that Rivian was “developing new variants with a larger battery pack and all-wheel drive.”
Rivian did not say how many of the new vans it had delivered or which customers received them. It presented the update under its commercial business with Amazon, the van’s main buyer.
What Changed
The US Environmental Protection Agency certified the new versions on September 17, covering 2027 model-year vans, including the EDV 700 Large in front-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive form and the equivalent Rivian Commercial Van models sold to other fleets.
The larger pack holds 129 kilowatt-hours of usable energy, up from 90 kWh in the standard pack, according to Rivian’s application to the EPA. Both use lithium iron phosphate cells. The large pack is offered only on the bigger 700 body. The smaller 500 vans keep the standard battery and front-wheel drive.
The all-wheel-drive version adds a second motor, with both rated at 265 kilowatts, the filing shows.
In the EPA’s laboratory test, the EDV 700 Large with front-wheel drive covered 355.5 miles on a charge, 35.8% more than the 261.7 miles recorded for the standard EDV 700. The all-wheel-drive version covered approximately 322 miles, 23.1% more.
Those are unadjusted lab figures and run well above what Rivian quotes for real-world use. It advertises 160 miles for the standard Delivery 700, so a 30% gain would put the new van at about 210 miles, by EV’s calculation.
The bigger battery and extra motor add weight. The large front-wheel-drive van has a curb weight of 8,223 pounds and the all-wheel-drive version 8,677 pounds, against 7,295 pounds for the standard EDV 700, and Rivian raised the gross vehicle weight rating to 10,000 pounds. Both charge at up to 100 kW on DC fast chargers.
Why Range Matters
Rivian built the van around Amazon’s last-mile network, where short, dense routes suit a modest battery. Longer rural routes and cold weather cut into range, and front-wheel drive limits traction on unpaved roads.
“The larger battery brings a 30% increase in range, while all wheel drive improves traction in conditions like mud and snow,” Rivian said in its February letter.
Amazon had more than 40,000 Rivian vans delivering packages across North America at the end of June, according to Rivian’s second-quarter presentation. It accounted for 52% of Rivian’s automotive revenue in the first quarter, up from about 11% a year earlier, a quarterly filing showed.
Rivian said on Thursday that Amazon “continues to expand their fleet” across North America.
Record Van Volumes
Van volumes have risen sharply this year. Rivian sold an estimated 8,469 vans in the US in the third quarter, more than three times as many as a year earlier and the most in any quarter, according to Cox Automotive estimates. Nine-month sales of 15,685 already exceed any full year in Cox’s data.
Rivian does not break out van deliveries. It said a higher mix of R2 and commercial van deliveries lowered its average selling price in the third quarter, when automotive revenue rose 36% to $1.550 billion and the automotive segment posted an $80 million gross loss.
The heavier, longer-range van could widen Rivian’s market outside Amazon, where sales remain thin more than a year after it opened orders to other fleets. A Rivian van in Walmart+ branding was spotted on a car hauler this week. Neither company has confirmed a deal.
Senior Vice President of Autonomy and AI James Philbin said this month that Rivian was investigating more autonomous capability for future versions of the van. “We’re actively investigating supporting future versions of the van that could have more capability in terms of autonomy,” he said at an Evercore ISI forum.
Rivian builds the van at its plant in Normal, Illinois, alongside the R1 and the R2, which moved to a second production shift in the third quarter.
The company said the second shift is expected to drive higher use of shared shops across the R1, R2 and the van, and to improve fixed-cost leverage. Rivian delivered a record 19,248 vehicles in the quarter.
