Holy huge: Amazon delivery van vs. R1S

[Sparky_Z]

Have seen plenty of these on the road, but never appreciated how gigantic they are until I parked my R1S next to one

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[bendrumin]

Great job parking.

 

[C.R. Rivian]

Looking forward to the camper van version

 

[Thedude]

It’s a cargo van. It’s no bigger than any other cargo van.

 

[MidnightRivian]

 

[jwanderson88]

You're in Baltimore. That isn't exactly truck country. If you parked your Rivian next to a Ford F350, you would see what huge is really like.

 

[Eeyore]

Great job parking.

That's the 1st thing I thought, but upon further review, I'm willing to say that it was just a temporary parking job for the photo op. That, and those parking spaces are small AF.

 

[kizamybute']

Looking forward to the camper van version

Unfortunately, these cargo vans have no significant range, thus are using small batteries. They'd have redesign to triple the battery size if using it as a camper van. Would be amazing if they did. Would be a great Class B RV with no need for a generator. But, the cost would be pretty high by the time you did one. Just the added batteries alone would probably be around $50,000. Add another $100,000+ to make it an RV plus whatever the cost of the van is now. Would probably be priced in the $250,000 range. Would love to see it, but I don't think we'll see it from Rivian anytime soon. Other RV manufacturers are working on EV RV's though, so hopefully we'll see something in the next 2-3 years?

 

[Killer95Stang]

Unfortunately, these cargo vans have no significant range, thus are using small batteries. They'd have redesign to triple the battery size if using it as a camper van. Would be amazing if they did. Would be a great Class B RV with no need for a generator. But, the cost would be pretty high by the time you did one. Just the added batteries alone would probably be around $50,000. Add another $100,000+ to make it an RV plus whatever the cost of the van is now. Would probably be priced in the $250,000 range. Would love to see it, but I don't think we'll see it from Rivian anytime soon. Other RV manufacturers are working on EV RV's though, so hopefully we'll see something in the next 2-3 years?

A lot of truth in your post. Had Rivian mobile service install our R1S spare tire on Friday and the mobile techs came from the new Eastvale SC. I thought they would show up in one of the mobile service vans, but instead they showed up in a service R1T. When I asked about it, they told me they love the service vans, but the Eastvale service area is so huge, they would never make it from service appointment to appointment with the van. Basically they cover from my area near Raging Waters all the way to Needles, Palm Springs, Corona and all of San Bernardino to the AZ border. After my house, they were headed to Redlands. Great experience BTW...

 

[VSG]

Unfortunately, these cargo vans have no significant range, thus are using small batteries.

To be clear, the EDV range is exactly what was demanded by Amazon when they co-developed the van with Rivian. The early versions had a much bigger range that was software-limited by Rivian to meet Amazon's requirements.

Amazon has more experience with last-mile delivery vehicles than just about anybody. So it's a good bet that the range Amazon wanted is more than sufficient for the vast majority of last-mile use cases. While individuals have range anxiety and so buy bigger than what they need (most people average 30 miles a day, but think they need a 300 mile range), companies like Amazon buy only what they need - and they have the data to tell them what they need.

Rivian CAN of course make a version with greater range. Easily, since they already had it. But the Amazon exclusivity expired only a few months ago. The most important thing for Rivian to do now is to find customers with a similar use case in order to grow the van business. A camper van platform is almost like a different vehicle, because it has different functional requirements like a passenger seat and increased range etc. IMO we're not likely to see that for a few more years.

 

[kizamybute']

To be clear, the EDV range is exactly what was demanded by Amazon when they co-developed the van with Rivian. The early versions had a much bigger range that was software-limited by Rivian to meet Amazon's requirements.

Amazon has more experience with last-mile delivery vehicles than just about anybody. So it's a good bet that the range Amazon wanted is more than sufficient for the vast majority of last-mile use cases. While individuals have range anxiety and so buy bigger than what they need (most people average 30 miles a day, but think they need a 300 mile range), companies like Amazon buy only what they need - and they have the data to tell them what they need.

Rivian CAN of course make a version with greater range. Easily, since they already had it. But the Amazon exclusivity expired only a few months ago. The most important thing for Rivian to do now is to find customers with a similar use case in order to grow the van business. A camper van platform is almost like a different vehicle, because it has different functional requirements like a passenger seat and increased range etc. IMO we're not likely to see that for a few more years.

Wasn't criticizing the delivery vans. You are correct. Amazon only needs so much in range to cover their delivery routes. They are built to suit their needs.

For an RV though, you will need AT LEAST a 200 kWh battery for it to have a reasonable range for RVing. The trucks are 7,000 lbs with 130+ kWh battery. A B-Class RV will be well over 15,000 lbs. Even 200 kWh is probably not enough to attract the mass market. Would require too many stops on long trips.

 

[Rudylake]

Have seen plenty of these on the road, but never appreciated how gigantic they are until I parked my R1S next to one

The improved on the headlight design on the van.

 

[Ric G]

Early Amazon EDV's were indeed software locked to ~185 mile range.

 

[Rivianready]

I see that Amazon got the optional package storage on the top of dashboard.

 

[Mark_AZR1T]

Wasn't criticizing the delivery vans. You are correct. Amazon only needs so much in range to cover their delivery routes. They are built to suit their needs.

For an RV though, you will need AT LEAST a 200 kWh battery for it to have a reasonable range for RVing. The trucks are 7,000 lbs with 130+ kWh battery. A B-Class RV will be well over 15,000 lbs. Even 200 kWh is probably not enough to attract the mass market. Would require too many stops on long trips.

Someone purchased an early release Amazon delivery van with a software locked range at an auction in Phoenix last month that had some side damage. The guy purchasing it was doing a van conversion for his mountain bike adventures. I'm not sure how ownership transfer works, how OTA updates work on a commercial to private title transfer or anything else in this process, in the Rivian eco system. With an ever growing charging network, it wouild be possible to ride anywhere in AZ, but beyond that with a 120 mile highway range, I'm not sure how feasible that is.

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