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Amazon to help boost oil production amid Climate Pledge, Rivian van orders

(Credit: Amazon News/YouTube)

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6 years ago

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Just a few weeks ago, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced that his company would be purchasing 100,000 Rivian electric vans to deliver its packages, as well as provide more eco-friendly packaging. The decisions were made after employees demanded he take the necessary steps to reduce the carbon footprint the e-commerce giant was causing. Bezos complied, alleviating the possible strike that Amazon employees were poised to take part in.

It finally seemed like one of the world’s biggest companies was taking an environmental approach to its business model, but that may not entirely be the case. As revealed by a press release from Weatherford, one of the world’s leading oilfield service companies, Amazon was one of the main contributors to the U.S. Oil and Gas Industry’s “Production 4.0” forum at the Enterprise Software Conference in Houston, Texas. The forum’s theme was simple — it centers on the development of technology that can accelerate and improve oil production.

“Weatherford Production 4.0 products, including ForeSite Edge, ForeSite Platform, CygNet Platform and ForeSite Sense, activate field-wide intelligence to maximize production. Weatherford delivers the future of production performance through next-generation automation, IoT infrastructure and advanced optimization software to boost production, uptime and efficiency,” Manoj Nimbalkar, Weatherford’s Global VP of Production Automation and Software, said.

The irony of Amazon’s decision to join this conference is notable. The company, after all, previously committed to delivering its new, environmentally-conscious packages via electric vehicle just a few short weeks ago, and now is helping the oil industry thrive. The future of gas and oil will not only contribute to the global climate crisis, but it also contributes to the decision to not have large corporations take a more environmentally-aggressive approach to the operations of their businesses. The influence Amazon might have carried with its decision to rely less on fossil fuels to power its vehicles could have convinced other companies to follow in its footsteps.

Bezos gained the respect of many eco-friendly groups when he announced his partnership with Rivian. The CEO invested $700M into the electric automaker in February 2019, making the impression that he and his company would begin gearing up for a future that would not include operating on fossil fuels. But when the company began its “Climate Pledge” in mid-September at the National Press Club, details were vague. Bezos was nevertheless adamant about doing his part to help reach the specifics of the Paris Agreement, and even took an aggressive line by stating that he wanted to accomplish the goals 10 years early. Despite the fact that the US will pull out of the agreement on behalf of President Donald Trump later this year, Amazon, at least at the time, have the impression that it was doing its part to contribute to environmental sustainability.

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But unfortunately, the old saying “actions speak louder than words” is all too true here. All while Bezos and Amazon were taking the necessary steps to reduce its carbon footprint and become a company that will help the planet, it appears that they were putting an effort to help advance oil and gas companies just the same. It appears they have taken two steps forward and three steps back with this news. After all, when Bezos was asked at the National Press Club meeting in Washington, D.C. if he would sever ties with oil companies that Amazon supports, he gave a firm “No.”

Ten-thousand Rivian vans boasting the Amazon logo are due to hit the road and begin delivering packages in 2021, and the remaining 90,000 will be ready before 2030. It also intends to utilize Earth-friendly packaging materials, apart of the “Shipment Zero” plan, by the end of 2019. But the announcement of Amazon’s participation seems to somewhat derail, or at least delay, any ideas that the company was interested in becoming a sustainable company. After promising employees that it would begin an effort to become “green”, is Amazon really sincere in its efforts to help the climate after all?

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Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Elon Musk

Elon Musk reveals date of Tesla Robotaxi’s first rides open to public

Tesla CEO Elon Musk continues to roll out new details regarding the Robotaxi launch that is expected to happen soon.

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5 minutes ago

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June 10, 2025

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla Robotaxi is set to launch in the coming days, but the first rides will be confined to those who receive invitations that the company sends out. However, CEO Elon Musk revealed the date that Tesla is aiming for when anyone in the general public will be able to call for a Robotaxi.

There has been quite a bit of information today about what appears to be an imminent launch of the Robotaxi platform. The first video of a Robotaxi was captured on a public road in Austin today, just one day after Tesla was added to the City of Austin’s list of licensed autonomous vehicle operators.

First Tesla driverless robotaxi spotted in the wild in Austin, TX

In the coming days, it is expected that Tesla will launch the Robotaxi platform in Austin to a select few. For now, Tesla is taking this ultra-conservative approach as it pertains to the rollout, citing safety precautions. It will be the first time Tesla has done this in public and offered it to people outside of the company.

It did launch a small, limited version of it to employees last month in Austin and the San Francisco Bay Area, but there was someone in the driver’s seat. Today’s video only had an occupant in the passenger seat.

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People are eager to know: when will they be able to fetch a driverless Tesla Model Y Robotaxi in Austin for themselves? Musk finally answered the long-awaited question with a tentative date of June 22:

Musk cited that Tesla’s utmost priority is still safety and not necessarily the speed of rollout. The current plan seems to be to deploy it in a controlled and slow fashion until confidence is at an extremely high level. Musk seems to believe the rollout will go smoothly, as the date comes less than two weeks after the initial launch.

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Anyone who has experienced Full Self-Driving for themselves knows what the cars are capable of. However, Tesla, at this point in time, still requires drivers to pay attention and remain ready to take over the wheel in case of an emergency. This will be a major step in the right direction for Tesla as it prepares to launch Robotaxi in Austin and slowly expand to surrounding areas.

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Elon Musk

Elon Musk says Tesla Robotaxi launch will force companies to license Full Self-Driving

“The automakers keep being told that this isn’t real or that just buying some hardware from Nvidia will solve it. As Tesla robotaxis become widespread and their other solutions don’t work, they will naturally turn to us.”

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4 hours ago

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June 10, 2025

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk says the automaker’s Robotaxi platform launch later this month will essentially force other companies to license Full Self-Driving to achieve their own goals of achieving autonomy.

Musk’s statement comes as a video captured today showed the first Tesla Robotaxi test mules on public streets in Austin, Texas, just one day after the City officially listed the company as an autonomous vehicle operator.

A prediction by investing YouTube and Tesla community member Dave Lee stated that “at least one automaker by end of year” will license Full Self-Driving from the Musk-led company, as it will give rivals the confidence to use the software to run their own self-driving operations.

Lee detailed his theory by stating that the company that chooses to commit to FSD licensing will not be able to integrate the hardware and sell those units immediately. Instead, it will take two years or so to solve the engineering and design applications.

First Tesla driverless robotaxi spotted in the wild in Austin, TX

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Musk revealed his true thoughts on other automakers’ attempts at vehicle autonomy, and said many are being told that Robotaxi is not real or that they can solve their problems with hardware orders to Nvidia.

He went on to say that companies will be forced to turn to Tesla at some point or another, because Robotaxi will be widespread and their solutions to figuring out an effective deployment will prove to be failures:

“The automakers keep being told that this isn’t real or that just buying some hardware from Nvidia will solve it. As Tesla robotaxis become widespread and their other solutions don’t work, they will naturally turn to us.”

Musk has not been shy to respond to speculation regarding the video of the Robotaxi, which was shared on X earlier today. This is perhaps one of the more fiery things he revealed. He seems ultra-confident in what Tesla will prove and achieve in the near future with the launch of the Robotaxi platform.

Many believe it will be rolled out this month. Bloomberg reported recently that Tesla was internally aiming for June 12. The company has not directly responded to these rumors.

Tesla has discussed on several occasions that it is in talks with an automaker about licensing Full Self-Driving, but it has never revealed who. The company first revealed discussions with another automaker in early 2024 when Elon Musk said:

“We’re in conversations with one major automaker regarding licensing FSD. It really just becomes a case of having them use the same cameras and inference computer and licensing our software. Once it becomes obvious that if you don’t have this (FSD) in a car, nobody wants your car. It’s a smart car… The people don’t understand all cars will need to be smart cars, or you will not sell, or nobody would buy it. Once that becomes obvious, I think licensing becomes not optional.”

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Tesla confirms it is in talks with major automaker for potential FSD licensing

Many, including us, suspected that Ford was the company that Tesla was speaking of due to Musk’s relationship with Jim Farley, which resulted in the legacy automaker being the first major car company to adopt Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS), which gave them access to the Supercharging Network.

This catalyzed an onslaught of companies choosing to make the same move as Tesla had truly set itself apart in terms of charging infrastructure.

Companies may be forced to make a similar decision if it can make the same type of statement with the rollout of Robotaxi.

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Elon Musk

Tesla CEO Elon Musk reveals new details about Robotaxi rollout

The first Tesla Robotaxi unit was spotted in Austin earlier today, and CEO Elon Musk is revealing some cool new details.

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6 hours ago

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June 10, 2025

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk has revealed new details about the company’s relatively imminent rollout of the Robotaxi platform as the suspected launch date of June 12 continues to near.

Earlier today, the first video showing the first driverless Tesla Robotaxi in Austin was shared on X, just a day after the City officially listed the company as an autonomous vehicle operator on its website. Tesla is listed as a company in the “Testing” phase.

The initial details of the Robotaxi are being revealed by Musk, who is carefully releasing small tidbits that seem to show the capabilities of the entire Tesla fleet, and not necessarily just the vehicles that will be involved in the initial rollout in Austin.

First Tesla driverless robotaxi spotted in the wild in Austin, TX

His first tidbit is one that many Tesla owners and fans will already know: many Teslas are capable of this driveless performance, but Full Self-Driving is not yet refined to the point where the software is quite ready to handle it. Current versions are robust, but not prepared for driverless navigation. The hardware, however, will enable Teslas to be Robotaxis, even if they’re already purchased by owners:

This is one of the biggest advantages Tesla has over other vehicle makers. Simply put, the Over-the-Air software updates that will roll out to FSD users will eventually make their cars into Robotaxis as well.

However, Musk shed some details on the version of FSD that is being run in these new Robotaxis that were spotted. Musk said that the version these Robotaxis are running is a new version, but will soon “merge to main branch.”

There is also an even newer version that has four times the parameters as this newer version that the test-stage Robotaxis are using, but Musk admits that this needs significant refinement before it is released to the public.

As of now, Tesla is simply teasing the actual launch date of the Robotaxi program, but Bloomberg reported earlier this month that it will occur on June 12.

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