Amazon has been testing their Rivian electric delivery vans on roads across the United States, and results from early testing reveal some concerning findings regarding its range.
In a recent regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Rivian disclosed the vans have a range of between 120 miles and 150 miles (193km-241km).
However, the range may be nearly half that amount when the air conditioning or heat is on inside the driver’s cabin.
According to one tester, who spoke with The Information, the vans experience as much as 40% range loss depending on the weather. That brings the range down to just 72 miles to 90 miles (115km-145km) on a cold or hot day.
Amazon’s director of Global Fleets and Products, Ross Rachey said the range is impacted by the use of HVAC, but added the vans used in testing do not have the same amount of insulation that the production version will have.
Amazon announced in September 2019 plans to purchase 100,000 of the electric delivery vans by 2024. The company is hoping to have as many as 10,000 on roads by the end of 2022.
Rivian to start selling Amazon electric vans to non-Amazon customers in 2023
