US Postal Service Tests RDV 500 Van

[Trandall]

This comment drives me nuts
" One of the more concerning things about the Rivian Delivery 500 is that there is neither a traditional ignition nor push button used to turn the vehicle on or off. Once the key is in range and the carrier is seated, shifting the gear is all that is needed to begin driving"
This is entirely false. because they fail to mention the operator must also simultaneously press the brake pedal along with 1. having the fob, 2 being seated, and 3. placing the vehicle in drive with the stalk.
They act like accidentally depressing the accelerator pedal or bumping the stalk will cause motion which is untrue. If their is concern of accidental motion of USPS delivery vehicles they should promptly move on from the old ice vehicles that move whenever they are in gear unless a foot is on the brake. How many videos do you see where a delivery driver is chasing after the van? how many of those are EV's.... zero of them are EV's!
Sorry for the rant obviously preaching the the choir here.

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[Tango45]

Nope. If you read the letter above from USPS, this EDV was a test to replace ProMaster vans. These are Ram vehicles. Not the typical house-to-house postal worker delivery vehicles that deliver to curbside mailboxes.

I will muddy your waters by noting that he was delivering some packages to a house when I saw him. My town is suburb AF and the area he was in is largely made of ~0.25-0.15 acre lots with mailboxes at the street. They do run multiple waves around here, with traditional mail umm... cars? with right hand steering and vans that tend to, but are not limited to, running packages.

 

[Autolycus]

This comment drives me nuts
" One of the more concerning things about the Rivian Delivery 500 is that there is neither a traditional ignition nor push button used to turn the vehicle on or off. Once the key is in range and the carrier is seated, shifting the gear is all that is needed to begin driving"
This is entirely false. because they fail to mention the operator must also simultaneously press the brake pedal along with 1. having the fob, 2 being seated, and 3. placing the vehicle in drive with the stalk.
They act like accidentally depressing the accelerator pedal or bumping the stalk will cause motion which is untrue. If their is concern of accidental motion of USPS delivery vehicles they should promptly move on from the old ice vehicles that move whenever they are in gear unless a foot is on the brake. How many videos do you see where a delivery driver is chasing after the van? how many of those are EV's.... zero of them are EV's!
Sorry for the rant obviously preaching the the choir here.

That does seem like a particularly weird complaint that's entirely based on someone wanting to find a problem and not thinking about how the current thing works. If the complaint was about potential theft, I could maybe understand the flawed logic, but... "once the driver is seated and has shifted into gear" feels like a perfectly reasonable condition for the accelerator working.

 

[HighVoltOverland]

I may have, on accident, by pure happenstance, run into the driver just now while out on a bike ride. He said "they took it back". He got to drive it for a few months and said it was nice. About then I noticed that he was making a face like it was weird and mildly creepy to be accosted by a sweaty, spandexed, middle-aged (and highly attractive) man asking about an electric mail truck, so I bid him farewell and went on my way.

No real info gained for the forum and I've lowered my status in my community. Win-win.

thank you for your service

 

[virgnia_rivian]

I will muddy your waters by noting that he was delivering some packages to a house when I saw him. My town is suburb AF and the area he was in is largely made of ~0.25-0.15 acre lots with mailboxes at the street. They do run multiple waves around here, with traditional mail umm... cars? with right hand steering and vans that tend to, but are not limited to, running packages.

I live in Alexandria and know Vienna well. Not all mail carriers deliver via a Grumman. Many packages and express items are delivered via vans and other vehicles. We have them in our neighborhood as well.

What I was pointing out is the USPS letter specifically says they're testing the EDV as a replacement to the ProMaster, not the Grumman.

 

[Hillbilly]

Nope. If you read the letter above from USPS, this EDV was a test to replace ProMaster vans. These are Ram vehicles. Not the typical house-to-house postal worker delivery vehicles that deliver to curbside mailboxes.

Don't see those around here. Just the standard mail trucks.

 

[SASSquatch]

This was exactly what I was hoping for when the USPS indicated it was looking to electrify its fleet. A potential large order by the USPS would be huge for Rivian and exactly the kind of investment they need right now.

 

[9527]

These Rivian and Campo vans are perfect for city deliveries where the mail carrier park the van and delivers mail by foot. LHD is ok in this case.

I’ve started to see RHD Mercedes vans making suburban mail deliveries in my town. I bet maintenance and repair cost is gonna be high.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Steering wheel is on wrong side, no?

Not if they are delivering packages or transferring mail from local POs to the larger hubs. Have to get out of the vehicle anyway for that.

 

[Asmithprimus]

Long time listener, first time caller.

One car fam, would already have an R1T if it's height fit in our 1 car tuck-under garage, anxiously awaiting our R2.

On the PO:
-Promasters are used for urban neighborhood routes which are delivered to each front door mailbox on foot. These routes were delivered with caravans or the toaster trucks prior.
-You will find these routes in neighborhoods built pre-1960s-ish.
I believe the PO went to mandating curbside delivery for any new development after 2012.
-I believe the promaster fleet is about 9100 nationwide and *leased*.

The promasters are about perfect for this kind of delivery. As mail volume goes down and package volume goes up, these allow for the right amount of cargo area while small enough to navigate city neighborhoods, notably fitting in a normal street or parking lot spot. Greatest negative? Getting out. The best way out is sliding door in cargo area and using the running board.

Pluses for the EDV?
Good cargo size
Electric to help electrify the fleet
Great dismount.

Minuses?
Too big (promaster 80" wide edv 96")
Shrink the width and we probably have a good bingo.

And don't worry too much about the ignition/key question, pretty granular complaint probably as a hat tip that they are listening to their employees' complaints.

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