Amazon has committed to deploying 100,000 Rivian electric cargo vans in its North American fleet by 2030. The first of those vans to arrive in Canada hit the road in the Vancouver area in late 2025.

Gary Brar is the owner of Rev Courier Services, one of the first Amazon delivery service partners to run the Rivian 700 cargo vans. I asked them how drivers are enjoying the change from their gas-powered Ford Transits.

Brar: Drivers love the vans. There’s plenty of cargo space, sensors built all around the vehicle. There’s 360 [degree] cameras all the way around, as you can see up there as well, they’re built into the mirrors here. They feel safer.

So what we were normally using was our devices. They used to load up all the packages and all the stops on there, but now these new vehicles are built in with the in-dash system, where all of our routes actually populate on the in-dash system. So if you can take a look here. So this system here will have, as you can see, all the stops populate on here. So it’s gonna take you [in] the most efficient way to the first stop, and then you’re gonna proceed with all your deliveries there.

In addition to doing their part to reduce Amazon’s environmental footprint, drivers also like the practical design of the Rivian. Gary Brar explains.

Brar: These vans, they’re safer to drive. They have a cooling system right behind the driver’s seat. In the summers as well, it keeps them cool. Same thing in the winters, it keeps them warm. The cargo space, as you can see, is a lot bigger. There’s also safety features built in. As soon as our drivers put these in park [mode], the cargo door automatically opens, and they can go in the back, sort their packages, and out the back door.

The back door is also automatic. As soon as the driver exits and it senses that the fob left the vehicle, it automatically closes back down.

Another perk for drivers, they no longer have to take time at the end of their day to find a gas station and fuel up. Hector Balgoz, DYV1 site lead, explains.

Balgoz: We used to get the drivers to gas up after the shift ends. Before they come back, they need to gas up. Right now with the Rivians, they don’t. So they just pull in, plug it in, and are ready to go again the next day.

In terms of gassing up for the day, they usually spend at least 10-15 minutes in the gas station just to do that. And with the Amazon, we are only allowed to gas up on Shell stations. Sometimes you look up a Shell somewhere in your delivery area, and you need to reroute and all these kinds of things for you to come back to the station. Now they don’t, so it saves us a lot of time.

With an overview of the van complete, it was time to head out on the road with an Amazon delivery driver.

Check back for Part 2 for details.

Zero In with… Amazon Canada, part 2