"Wow, I could live in that" was my first thought, it would be a perfect base to build an rv! Although, they would have to extend it's range - as it is, it would take a month or so to drive from NY to LA 🐢, but you would get to really see the country and meet people!
This was the exact thought in my head too... I wish solid state batteries would take over. 350+ miles per charge would be perfect !!.. 160 just wouldn't cut it...
I am an Amazon DA based in NYC, and we have gotten hold of these beauties recently and have been driving them around for the past 4-5 months. It is quite literally revolutionary and honestly the design focused around the driver is so much more efficient compared to the gas cargo vans. It feels like a spaceship tbh. Only complaint is the sound system. It is not good. Rivian if you watch this video and read the comments please update that somehow. Would really appreciate it!
If you want professional courier services, use one and pay for it. Amazon delivery drivers, or any usual delivery company is minimum or close to minimum wage work. Dont expect a high standard for a service which you either get for free or for a fee of a couple of dollars.
@onehandwashestheother- well I *wish* my local amazon drivers played music, they are *so* quiet that sometimes they deliver and despite me being at home ,would only know when a notification comes, can be bit of an issue here in UK when it rains. lol
It's a full circle moment for me, from watching MKBHD videos for tech reviews to becoming an automotive engineer only for him to launch a new auto channel and review the van I helped build at Rivian.
I worked for the USPS when Amazon just started doing their own deliveries in my area. It's amazing to see how far they've come from being gig workers in unmarked cars to driving these vans that probably outmatch anything any delivery company has in terms of driver comfort. I was 26 years old driving an LLV with no heat, no AC that broke down monthly and was older than I was. This would have been an absolute dream.
@@richards1191I work at a car dealership that sells an okay amount of evs so that means we have to have a charger on site and multiple people that work here have bought an ev and charge for free at work when they show up it’s a pretty solid move
I love your videos! Small correction at 4:20 you have it backwards. The sliding door (passenger side) would be to the side walk and the regular door (drivers side) would be into oncoming traffic assuming a 2 way street.
Probably so you can drive with the side door open for more efficient delivery. Just sling the package like a newspaper kid - no need to slow down! Smart
THIS is a use case where EV makes a TON of sense...driving around town, low speeds, lots of stop and go, charging and overall battery maintenance can be tightly controlled, etc? PERFECT use case for EV.
I drove the 700 model for about 8 months before quitting. I've never seen a 500 model outside of the Rivian techs that would stop by the warehouse. It's a great step up from the pro masters we drove prior, but as much as it made the job easier, Amazon increased the workload to compensate. I could answer a million questions about these vans if anyone has any not answered in the video.
is there a button that can open the back door or do you always have to manually open? can you button open any of the doors from the outside? (the fob didn't seem to have those options) was the navigation software rivian specific or can you use google maps? did you think the software experience was good overall? how does the large screen deal with rain? thanks if you answer any of these!
This van has so much potential for multiple industries that will need to transition to electric. Tradesman, construction, and most exciting of all-- RV. Vanlife would be sick in this Rivian Van.
You don’t often see any kind of products that are so massively designed for one purpose or customer. But when you see it and everything makes sense it’s just beautiful.
If you could double the battery at a minimum, maybe. Treating it like any other EV where you don't get below about 10% battery (which would only be maybe 15mi of range), charging up to say 90%, gives you only a usable range of 120miles. That assuming the estimate is SUPER real world. They say 150 mi range, but that is also assuming most driving is stop/go in city, not at highway speeds. That thing full of van-life outfitting (aka heavy stuff), doing 75mph? I wouldn't be surprised it it was 90mi usable range. Doable? Sure, but not very good for "getting away from it all". Also you'd burn electrons keeping the AC on and running appliances. So you'd have to either park at an RV site or make sure you park it at night with a fairly high state of charge.
I was thinking the same thing. I’d buy one when they’re at the end of their use. They would probably just swap the battery pack and put it back on the road though.
@@lucamatteobarbieri2493 In a very optimal setup, on a perfect day, maybe. Many years ago they talked about solar panels on a Tesla Model 3 and the math came out to something like 1.5 miles per day gain by solar. Granted the M3 has a much smaller roof, but the Rivian EDV is also much more inefficient. The biggest problem with solar panels on the roof is that you'd need to put them on in a way to not alter the aero. Poorly installed solar panels on the roof could easily cause a more than 10 mile hit on the range. Also lets be honest, even it was something amazing like 20 mi increase per day (12 hour day), that doesn't really alter how you drive. With a 100mile range, at freeway speeds, you'd be adding something like 1 mile of extra range between each charge stop.
@@SierraGolfNiner yeah. I agree. I wrote my original comment before they announced the miles per charge. Still an awesome platform but would need additional battery. I wish Tesla would do a van.
as a courier for over 20 years, this design looks amazing, the step van style is great, and this thing takes that flawless design and just makes it so much better. slick!
They really did a killer job designing this vehicle for the industry. Simple utility. The electric pass through and cargo doors are awesome. Also, the sides of the vehicle are Curbside (passenger) and Streetside (driver).
Are you an Amazon driver? The electric pass through door comes off it’s track not infrequently. I understand, they want it to open and close so cargo is secure while driver is away, but for many many rural and suburban routes this is unnecessary. They could have made it non automatic and reduced how often the door has to open from 1,000 times a week to maybe less than a hundred. Significantly reduce wear and repair. One other critique is how low the van sits for rural routes. It’s great for city/suburb, but at my station the bottoms of the many of these vans are hanging off or have been cut away - No doubt this is driver error, but again they could’ve saved a ton in maintenance by considering this. Overall a great van though.
(4:20) The passenger side sliding door is where the sidewalks/houses/apartments would be, and the driver side door would be the side facing the street/road. This sliding door makes it easier to drivers to get in and out to make deliveries. #correction
Not to mention that the sliding door doesn't obstruct the sidewalk if left open and you don't have to be concerned about smacking a person/mailbox/tree with it when opening.
Yea he thought it was like a USPS truck when its not. This Riven chose to use a traditional driving position in favor of the driver doing a little more work getting out of the van, which makes sense because amazon doesn’t deliver letters to mailboxes, and most of their drivers will be less experienced workers making the learning curve of driving on the otherside of the road unnecessary.
@@WARnTEA I wouldn't really say it's more work even. It's a stride or two further getting in, and getting out you need to go into the back anyways, so all it means is less things in your way.
Yeah I spent a minute looking at the logos to see if it was mirrored and then sanity checking if I know what side of the vehicle I sit on XD Like uhh I don't think that side faces the street...
If Rivian made vehicle just like this for people that are in construction it would be widely appreciated because of its convenience and complexity in access compared to the older models and I could see a lot of construction workers buying a van like this.
The Rivian techs that work on these EDV's have their own work van which is the 500, like this one (shorter wheel base) equipped with everything they need in the back and a Rivian branding wrap, they look pretty slick!
I just saw a Ford E-Transit charging near my house yesterday. They don't sell that in the US? Ninja edit: apparently they do, though range isn't that great.
@@spoenk7448I drive an E-transit in portland as a plumber. It’s great for our market where we roll around the city + suburban job sites. It’s great and burns about .5kw/mile. Range fully charged is 120ish
Rivian is destined for greatness. I think they could even choose to enter the Semi market with the credibility a design like this gives them. They would automatically win on cabin ergonomics from day one.
Honestly this is a brilliant bussiness move from Rivian - proof of concept/fix all the issues with Amazon, then roll them out worldwide to postal services. Most 1st world Gov. departments are looking to reduce CO2 emissions and hit green targets - switching the gov. owned postal service to electric vehicles would move towards that target massively.
Agreed. I actually recall reading a few years ago that during Bush 2's second term, the US Postal Service wanted to start replacing vehicles with fleets of electric (or maybe hybrid) vehicles and it got shut down. I believe that was one of the big reasons the USPS began to fail to the point it has. They were disallowed from making that decision, which would've saved tax payers and then they subsequently had their budget lowered...relative to inflation.
In Australia our drivers use mini electric buggies for their local delivery route. We use ICE/hybrid vans for larger packages and international deliveries though.
I talked to a driver when they delivered something to me in one of these, and he loved it! Then he did a 3-point turn in the middle of the block, not using a driveway, and drove off. Thanks for doing this, I was really interesting in seeing the inside.
Rivian has been killing it lately! I can't wait to see all that they do! I would LOVE to see a similar van by Rivian for camping. That would be amazing!
We had an Uber like app here in Mexico called Beat, that for a while offered to take a ride in a Tesla, then that should have gotten a bit too expensive and started using chinese electric cars of a brand called JAC... and then, the company went bankrupt. But I can definitely see Rivian powered buses chugging along Mexico City, I'd love to see it
This is so much more exciting than a normal electric car review 😃 I feel like the first time where I was shown a tractor and how to drive it as a kid ☺️
I can't tell you how much I appreciate that you really focused on how this works for the drivers/workers and not just on the "ooo pretty features" kinda stuff.
Good to see effort and care put into something that will make someone's job not only easier, but more enjoyable. Koodoos for not cutting corners when you easily could.
I work as an Amazon driver and get to drive these things nearly every day. You said they’re not luxury driving, but compared to the ICE vans? These are peak luxury 😂 I love driving these things
RVs are supposed to go for long distances, road trips... with the weight of RV equipment, plus the weight of the battery... I don't think it would be wise to build an EV-RV in the current state of battery efficiency.
@@wittywolk You have to keep in mind that as large as these vans are, they only carry a 135kWh battery because they’re precisely designed for the daily delivery cycle. We’re starting to get electric pickup trucks that carry 200kWh battery packs, at around half the footprint as this van. Needless to say, if they want to release a RV version for long range use, there’s more than enough space to at least double the capacity as those pickup trucks and bring the range to 500+ miles.
@@wittywolk Maybe that's true for the US, but I can see these work in Europe for some people (retirees with time and money). Things are generally closer together/more densely populated and the charging infrastructure is getting to be fairly good in certain parts of Europe. It's only going to be better in the coming years. I'd much rather have this as an RV rather than towing a trailer with a regular EV because charging infrastructure is not set up for towing vehicles. If the range is going to be unimpressive you're going to want to be able to just drive up and plug in.
Particularly for me in the UK. If you’re RV’ing you want to take in the countryside en-route, otherwise take a car and rent a cottage at your destination
I drove for Amazon for 8 months, but I moved on just before the Rivian vans were introduced. This is the cleanest van I’ve seen. I never thought I would see MKBHD with a vest on. 4:37 I would usually have 148 stops which means I would be in and out of the van at least 148 times. It’s really cool they upgraded the delivery experience. Perfect upgrades.
@asimo3089 the shape does matter. A low and rounded shape means that if they hit pedestrians or cyclists they won't be dragged under the front bumper and aggravate the impact injuries to near fatal or fatal.
looking forward for these things to become more common! Hopefully theyll flood the used market in a few years so people can make them into campers. I like that they included fast charging even though its unlikely to be used by amazon drivers :)
The interior size would likely also be awesome for craftsmen. Lots of room for tools and parts, it's locked away in the back, and if needs be you can work in the back in the dry. Maybe Rivian even offers an outlet option on their vans so you don't need to lug around generators for the jobsites.
Given that it’s electric, I fully expect these things to be compact in size, but with an incredibly spacious interior. Finally the emergency kit can go into the frunk, and the battery weight forces a low center of gravity, thus making these things incredibly stable. For context, I raced on a track with a retired Fedex box truck and a UPS truck. Its very easy to get them on two wheels like the UAE drivers out in the dunes.
I think this is my favorite video you’ve done. I liked how methodical and complete the walkthrough was and I loved seeing inside that insane warehouse/garage. Also cool to hear the sound environments change so drastically as you moved in and out of the different parts of the van. Amazing.
In 5-10 years time that will be the secondhand van that gets retrofit for van life. With all that room back there it will be amazing to see what people squeeze into it. Surfing or camping life of the future - wow.
totally agree except that the range is awful so it would have to get bigger batteries put in... no way anyone seeking that lifestyle wants to be limited by the very short range - not to forget how charging areas are already few but especially near beaches and campsites.
Great video as always Marques, and one of my favorite cars on the road! The clean lines, the blue accents, the quiet truck (which is super weird cause normally trucks are very loud). When you rang the horn at 8:23, i felt that to my core 😂
As an amazon delivery driver that’s driven these many times. The pros for this is the heated and ventilated seat, leather seat, tall space, touch screen, instant torque, 360 camera, driving with only one pedal, cruise control and high seat. The cons for me would be, not enough cup holders, weak AC vent (some don’t have adjustable vents), seat belt issue, no handle on driver side, and you’re trapped in the cabin if the key dies.
Love this vehicle! Looking forward to seeing a campervan conversion someday soon. That cargo area looks very practical for this. I'd love one of these as an EV campervan with a bit more range and all-electric cooking, heating and cooling.
I imagine it will be a long time (if ever) before these show up on the used market or for consumer purchase, but that would make a *sick* van life build... If Rivian sold a stripped down version, that would be awesome! Add the ability to take power in from a PV system, you don't have to mess with a separate battery system since the vehicle is a battery, the height is great.
Very nice presentation! In Bellevue/Kirkland WA we see a bunch of these and also the little six wheeled delivery gizmos too. I love the look and that they are electric!
I talked to the delivery driver that come to my neighborhood, and he absolutely loves it, he says it's quite, comfortable and easy to drive, he is thinking of getting a small ev for his personal use after driving this delivery van
The fact that an iPhone is at this point capable of shooting video like that is really impressing. Just as impressing as this awesome review from Marques.
im happy that the experience seems much better for drivers compared to traditional cargo vans with no or garbage ac. delivery drivers deliver a lot of things that are necessary or make life better for a lot of people and they deserve comfort just like everyone else
The USPS would do well to commission Rivian for these trucks as well. I could see a smaller version of this being the standard for mail delivery in the near future
To the people commenting about the potential as an RV… a relative converted a USPS truck into a camper van and it’s literally my dream vehicle. Electric would just make it icing on the cake doing what she did to one of these.
Seen those driving around us (NJ) for months, they look soo much better than those old vans and EV's make so much sense. UPS and Fedex should do something like that too. I think they look pretty cool and way more amazoney. Thanks for showing us the car and some specs, I was actually interested in those things.
I actually saw these when driving late at night through Pennsylvania. I just noticed a giant red U shaped light bar and was like “what vehicle is that?!?” Drove past it, and the headlights were the dead giveaway. It definitely looks cool in person, and I low key want one as a utility van.
I drive (not for Amazon) for 4 hours a day and see those Rivian Amazon vans all over the place! When I see one of the Rivian vans, it makes me smile! 😁
When I did delivery work, I drove a van from each of the big three. A Chevy express which was just the worst with frequent breakdowns, and very uncomfortable to drive. A RAM 1500 can which drove well (and had an insanely good turning radius), but had terrible ergonomics and electronics. Radio constantly broke. The cable for the sliding door was broken. And there were no handles or steps to assist with getting in and out, so you had to sorta jump out which takes a toll. Then a Ford Transit 250. This solved a lot of the ergonomics issues I had with the other vans, but did introduce one big problem. The pedals were too high off the ground and not adjustable. So my ankle would hurt by days end. However, it had AWD which was welcome in the Northeast. Radio sounded great. Lane keep assist. Driver alertness monitoring, which helped for some of the harder mornings. This Rivian van is something special because I can tell it’s something they designed with a lot of input from drivers. I don’t do delivery work anymore, but if I did, this would be the van I’d want.
This looks awesome. Took some time but I think these special purpose built vehicle will be a big win considering the scale of Amazon delivery. I wish Rivian had been the ones to develop the USPS mail trucks.
I live in Seattle. And I love seeing so many Rivians on the road, including the delivery vehicle. Washington seems to be about 5:5 Tesla vs Rivian. Whereas my impression while living in Los Angeles it was 9:1 Tesla vs Rivian
This looks really great! I hope they do come to Germany as well. Also, I'd wish they'd not only be made for Amazon. These look really cool for normal people, too!
Germany has many great vans unlike the usa. There are also a bunch of electric options like e sprinter and more that dont exist on the us market. For non delivery uses many of those are actually better than the rivian. Also dhl has these small electric vans too.
@@aynamehd7455 that is very much true. Ford also released it's E-Transit as well. Sure, there are options but you generally don't see them adopted even by quite large companies. Many Amazon and DHL cars coming around here are still powered by gas even though their effective range might be well below 300km. Maybe even 200km. I might have to ask my local DHL person if they got a minute on how much they're driving/day.
Awesome, that you also do reviews, IN YOUR REVIEW STYLE, that „normal people“ don’t normally see/experience! Can’t wait to see reviews on trucks or similar „unnormal“ vehicles!:-)
I subbed to this channel the day Marques announced it and I'm so glad I did. Every one of these videos has been fascinating, and I love that they're shot on phone hardware, showing just how far we've come in tech and how little it actually takes to produce a channel of this quality. Top notch stuff.
I know I know I probably shouldn't say this, but I am starting to look more forward to these videos than the main channel, there is something so authentic about them. I really love the main channel of course, but now when something from this channel pops up, I want to watch it right away.
Not only do these trucks look gorgeous, but they are amazingly large and practical as well. They have thought of so many small things and made improvements that benefit the driver without having to put in any manual effort.
Very cool little van! I absolutely love the blue accents. I wish more companies would introduce something like this into their designs - a bright pop of colour in a few spots, to break up the typical greys and blacks of many cars. (I know some cars have "sports" packages that do this with stitching in the seats and such, and those are also nice looking, but most of the time they still feel very conservative.)
It is AMAZING!!!;) A local driver was kind enough to let me sit in one after I gave a few curious glances, it is SO WELL THOUGHT OUT AND ERGONOMIC!!!;)
wonderful van. I'm glad the drivers get air conditioning, I know it is a bone of contention with UPS and others. If you're hustling like you have to do as a delivery person you can overheat quickly. I hope Rivian makes enough money on these to develop camper and shuttle bus versions.
I had never imagined that, a delivery van would be high tech and so well designed. This vehicle has more facilities than a high end car in my country 😁
