Rivian X Mercedes-Benz: Electric Vans
Mercedes-Benz and Rivian have announced they are collaborating to develop “bespoke large” commercial electric vans.
The firms signed a memorandum of understanding to begin a strategic collaboration that will invest in a new factory. The a target is to use an existing Mercedes-Benz site in Central or Eastern Europe. Marking Rivian’s first foothold in the continent, the car manufacturer only has one production facility in the United States.
Two van models are planned, one built on Mercedes’ Vans Electric Design (VAN.EA) system and the other on Rivian’s second-generation electric van platform, named Rivian Light Van (RLV).
Mercedes-Benz has been developing commercial vans for over 20 years and has manufacturing experience and resources that, mixed with Rivian’s electric platform expertise, might help the young automaker grow on its restricted resources.
We want to retain our position as the only van manufacturer producing large vans in Germany– despite the increasing costs associated with the e-mobility transformation”, stated Mercedes-Benz head of vans Mathais Geisen.
In the press release revealing their collaboration, Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe stated, “We believe that together we will produce truly remarkable electric vans which will benefit not only our customers but the planet.” Rivian’s stock leaped almost 10% at market open from $34.90 to $36.26 on news of this new joint venture.
At this point, Rivian has a contract to construct 100,000 electric delivery vans for Amazon. In 2019, that total was to be met by 2024, but now Amazon estimates that the total order will be on the road by 2030.
The first ones have only begun arriving in specific cities for testing, such as Baltimore, Dallas, Kansas City, Chicago, and Seattle– and an overall of 100 cities by year-end. However, Rivian’s collaboration with Amazon is not exclusive, and the automaker has stated it intends to begin selling electric vans to other firms in 2023.
Originally published by: The Verge
