On Wednesday, the automaker reported at CES 2022 that Amazon will be the first commercial customer for the truck-focused division’s forthcoming ProMaster battery-electric delivery van, which is planned to launch in 2023.
The mega-size online retailer/tech organization as of now works a horde of Stellantis commercial vehicles in North America and Europe. Notwithstanding ProMaster products, Amazon’s fleet incorporates the Fiat Ducato and different commercial offerings from Peugeot and Citroën. Normally, the automaker desires to build the number of vehicles it sells to Amazon, yet no official delivery targets or production figures have been unveiled. “I can tell you it’s a big number, it’s a significant number,” Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said during an online presentation during CES. “[This is] an acceleration, a growth of an existing business.”
In some ways, ProMaster’s impending all-electric van will be tailor-made to meet Amazon’s issues. It ought to have extraordinary features to make so-called last-mile delivery both more efficient and more straightforward on drivers. As Tavares noticed, the Stellantis and Amazon association should help him and his teams of designers and engineers assemble better products for commercial customers, with improved hardware and software.
The push to work a fleet of all-electric ProMaster vans is part of Amazon’s commitment to have net-zero carbon emissions by 2040. Early last year, the retailer reported it had placed an order for 100,000 battery-powered vans from startup automaker Rivian. Throw Ram into the mix, and you have a truly enormous fleet of emissions-free vehicles.
As the COVID-19 pandemic speeds up e-commerce, an ever-increasing number of organizations will require delivery vans, and battery-powered offerings seem OK. “We are among the top two LCV [light commercial vehicle] sellers in the world,” said Tavares. This deal with Amazon ought to just grow Stellantis’ position in the market.