Rivian is teaming up with American telecom giant AT&T to supply it with electric vehicles starting in 2024, including the Electric Commercial Van (ECV) which was off-limits to anyone except Rivian and Amazon until recently.
After the exclusivity agreement with Amazon ended in the third quarter of this year, AT&T is the first company to strike a deal with the American automaker to buy the electric van for its fleet. Besides the ECV, the telecom company will also buy R1 EVs.
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According to the two companies, a pilot program including the ECV and R1 vehicles will start early next year, but the number of vehicles purchased hasn’t been disclosed. AT&T said that it will evaluate the various ways these vehicles help improve safety, reduce costs, and cut its carbon footprint.
Regarding the latter, America’s biggest wireless carrier aims for carbon neutrality by 2035, so buying more EVs should help it reach that target more easily. AT&T also uses hybrid and other electric vehicles in its fleet. Back in 2010, it bought the first Ford Transit Connect Electric vans that were retrofitted to run on electricity by Azure Dynamics and offered up to 80 miles of range on a single charge.
As for the Rivian Electric Commercial Van, it comes in two sizes, both powered by the same Enduro electric motor mounted on the front axle and LFP battery pack. The smaller Delivery 500 model can drive up to 161 miles on a full charge and has a gross vehicle weight rating of 2,734 pounds, while the bigger Delivery 700 has a slightly shorter driving range of 153 miles but has a GVWR of 9,500 lbs and is longer and wider than its entry-level sibling.
Rivian’s EVs might not necessarily be the solution for those times when you get no cell reception, but they’re a cool and environmentally friendly addition to AT&T’s fleet.
