Amazon to buy all-electric Ram ProMaster vans
The giant internet retailer is the first commercial customer of these delivery vehicles, which will work alongside Rivian electric vans starting in 2023. The deal was announced at CES 2022.
Big news for Stellantis' Ram brand. On Wednesday, the automaker announced at CES 2022 that Amazon will be the first commercial customer for the truck-focused division's upcoming ProMaster battery-electric delivery van, which is scheduled to launch in 2023.
The megasize online retailer/tech company already operates a horde of Stellantis commercial vehicles in North America and Europe. In addition to ProMaster products, Amazon's fleet includes the Fiat Ducato and various commercial offerings from Peugeot and Citroën. Naturally, the automaker hopes to increase the number of vehicles it sells to Amazon, but no official delivery targets or production figures have been made public. "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 certain ways, ProMaster's upcoming all-electric van will be tailor-made to meet Amazon's needs. It should have unique features to make so-called last-mile delivery both more efficient and easier on drivers. As Tavares noted, the Stellantis and Amazon partnership should help him and his teams of designers and engineers build better products for commercial customers, with improved hardware and software.
The push to operate 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 announced it had placed an order for 100,000 battery-powered vans from startup automaker Rivian. Throw Ram into the mix, and you have a seriously large fleet of emissions-free vehicles.
As the COVID-19 pandemic accelerates e-commerce, more and more companies are going to need delivery vans, and battery-powered offerings make a lot of sense. "We are among the top two LCV [light commercial vehicle] sellers in the world," said Tavares. This deal with Amazon should only expand Stellantis' position in the market.
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