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Rivian’s electric Amazon Delivery Van starts deliveries in San Francisco as testing continues

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Rivian’s all-electric Amazon Delivery van has started making deliveries in San Francisco, California. San Francisco is now the second city to experience package delivery sustainably with Rivian’s new delivery van, joining Los Angeles as the only locations to currently receive Amazon packages from the all-electric vehicle.

Amazon customers had their first run-ins with the Rivian delivery van on February 3rd in Los Angeles when the highly-anticipated battery-powered vehicle made its first package deliveries. With plans to expand deliveries to 16 cities by the end of 2021, Rivian’s Amazon van is now in the Bay Area, where the e-commerce giant is testing the vehicle’s capabilities in some of the more challenging areas to deliver packages: densely-populated cities.

San Francisco offered several advantages in Amazon’s initial testing phases of the Rivian delivery van. Amazon chose the city specifically for its great customers, unique terrain, and favorable climate.

Ross Rachey, Director of Amazon’s Global Fleet and Products, said:

“From what we’ve seen, this is one of the fastest modern commercial electrification programs, and we’re incredibly proud of that. As we continue to grow and invest in California, we want to do so responsibly, so we’re excited for customers in the Bay Area to see these vehicles cruising through their neighborhood.”

In September 2019, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced that his e-commerce company was planning to purchase 100,000 all-electric vans from Rivian to reduce the carbon footprint from driving gas-powered vehicles. Amazon is one of Rivian’s largest investors, funneling in a $700 million investment in February 2019. Development of the delivery vans began shortly thereafter, and the vehicle was unveiled in October 2020. It has a range of 150 miles per charge and is outfitted with safety optimizations and other features to enhance the driver experience.

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Current delivery drivers who are operating Rivian’s all-electric van have been specially trained to operate the vehicle, Amazon told Teslarati in a statement.

Amazon will initially deliver packages using the Rivian vans from the e-commerce giant’s delivery station in Richmond, California.

“Richmond is a regional and state leader for climate action, including the creation of green jobs and infrastructure, the implementation of a robust climate action plan, the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2016, and much more,” City Mayor Tom Butt said. “It’s fitting that Amazon’s new electric delivery vehicles are being rolled out in the Bay Area from Richmond, and I congratulate the company for making this important advancement in reducing carbon emissions from commercial vehicles,”

Amazon also plans to launch deliveries from other sites in the Bay Area shortly. The company does utilize thousands of electric delivery vehicles worldwide already, but it is also working to update delivery centers so they are suitable for servicing electric vehicles. Last year, Amazon delivered more than 20 million packages to customers in North America and Europe using EVs.

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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Tesla talks Semi ramp, Optimus, Robotaxi rollout, FSD with Wall Street firm

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) recently talked about a variety of topics with Wall Street firm Piper Sandler, as the firm released a new note on Friday about their meeting with the company’s Investor Relations team.

According to the note from Piper Sandler, Tesla talked in detail about the Semi program, Optimus, and its potential valuation given its capabilities, the rollout of Robotaxi in Austin, and Full Self-Driving progress in the United States.

Tesla Semi Ramp

The Tesla Semi is set to enter mass production in 2026 at a dedicated factory near the company’s Gigafactory in Reno, Nevada.

The Semi has already been in pilot program testing, as Tesla has partnered with a few companies, like Frito-Lay and PepsiCo., to perform regional logistics. It has been met with excellent reviews from drivers, and it has helped give Tesla a good idea of what to expect when it makes its way to more companies in the coming years.

Piper Sandler said that it is evident Tesla is preparing for a “major ramp,” but it is keeping its expectations low:

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“We’ve never expected much from this product, but we’d love to be proven wrong (Tesla is clearly prepping for a major ramp).”

Tesla Optimus and its value internally and externally

Optimus has been working in Tesla factories for some time, but its expectations as a product offering outside of the company internally have major implications.

Its role within Tesla factories, for now, is relatively low, but Optimus is still doing things to assist. By this time next year, Piper Sandler said Optimus should have bigger responsibilities:

“By this time in 2026, Optimus should be moving/staging parts within Tesla’s facilities.”

Outside of Tesla, Optimus could be a major beneficiary for companies as it could be a more affordable way to handle tedious tasks and manual labor. The firm believes that if Optimus can work 18-hour shifts, a cost of $100,000 per unit “would be justified.”

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Tesla Robotaxi Expansion

The big focus of the firm with Robotaxi was Tesla’s expansion of the geofence in Austin this week. It was substantial, bringing the Robotaxi’s total service area to around 170 square miles, up from the roughly 90 square miles that rival Waymo is offering in the city.

Tesla Robotaxi geofence expansion enters Plaid Mode and includes a surprise

Tesla has doubled its geofence three times since its launch in late June, and it also revealed that its fleet of vehicles has expanded by 50 percent. It did not give a solid number of how many vehicles are operating in the fleet.

Tesla Full Self-Driving v14 launch

Tesla’s Full Self-Driving suite is set to have a fresh version, v14, rolled out in either September or October, and there are some pretty high expectations for it.

CEO Elon Musk said:

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“The FSD release in about 6 weeks will be a dramatic gain with a 10X higher parameter count and many other improvements. It’s going through training & testing now. Once we confirm real-world safety of FSD 14, which we think will be amazing, the car will nag you much less.”

There is also some expectation that v14 could be the public release of what Tesla is running in Austin for Robotaxi. The firm confirmed this in their note by stating it “should enable Tesla owners to use software that is on par with Robotaxis in Austin.”

The only real hold up would be regulator skepticism, but Tesla can alleviate this with strong data.

The firm maintained its ‘Overweight’ rating and the $400 price target it holds on the stock.

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Tesla starts Full Self-Driving rollout to owners in Australia

“To have this car drive me around Brisbane for an hour, we’re talking in the city, motorway, spaghetti bowl of on-ramps, it handled it so well. It was mind-blowing.”

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has already started rolling out its Full Self-Driving suite to owners in Australia after officially launching the driver assistance suite in the country yesterday.

Earlier this week, Tesla seemed to be moving toward the launch of Full Self-Driving (Supervised) in Australia after numerous media members received early access to test its performance.

Tesla officially launched Full Self-Driving (Supervised) in Australia yesterday. The company told media members who got early access to the suite that the rollout would begin with Hardware 4-equipped Model 3 and Model Y vehicles.

Tesla launches Full Self-Driving in a new region

The release would be slow and gradual, with the process performed in stages.

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The first stage of the rollout has already begun in Australia:

Tesla is reminding drivers in Australia who are using the suite for the first time that they must not become complacent while FSD is in operation. It is not fully autonomous and still requires the driver to remain attentive to road conditions and the vehicle’s surroundings.

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Currently, the suite is only available to purchase outright, and it comes at a cost of $10,100. A subscription model is in the works, similar to the one in the United States, but Tesla has not yet announced its plans or pricing model for this.

Australia is the sixth country to receive Full Self-Driving (Supervised), or at least some version of it, as the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, and Puerto Rico all have access to the suite currently. In China, it is slightly different and is referred to as “City Autopilot” due to regulatory boundaries.

Early reviews of the suite have been very strong, as local media have also had the opportunity to try it, with one journalist saying, To have this car drive me around Brisbane for an hour, we’re talking in the city, motorway, spaghetti bowl of on-ramps, it handled it so well. It was mind-blowing.”

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Tesla expands crazy new lease deal for insane savings on used inventory

Tesla was able to work through the hurdles in three states, expanding the deal to New York, New Jersey, and Florida.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has expanded its new lease deal, offering people insane savings on used inventory.

Last week, we reported on Tesla offering crazy good lease deals on some of its used inventory, as people were able to grab monthly payments for as little as $225 per month with no money down.

There was only one catch: the deal was only available in California and Texas.

Tesla offers new deal on used inventory that you won’t want to pass up

However, Tesla has been working hard to get the lease deal expanded, and it finally has. Last night, Tesla’s VP of Finance, Sendil Palani, confirmed the deal had made it to three additional states.

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Palani explained that the deal was only available in California and Texas because the leasing process requires working through regulatory hurdles in each state. He said it “involves a nontrivial amount of work,” which makes things more difficult to iron out.

Tesla was able to work through the hurdles in three states, expanding the deal to New York, New Jersey, and Florida. It is currently active in those states, Palani said:

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Tesla is really making a concerted effort to push its inventory out the door, and many areas already are running low on both new and pre-owned inventory. It has cut prices on some new inventory, while offering these new lease deals on used vehicles that remain.

It is beneficial to the consumer for obvious reasons: cheaper payments and the ability to get a great deal on a car for no money down. Tesla is also getting rid of vehicles that were once thought to be intended for the Robotaxi fleet, but it appears these older hardware vehicles are no longer in the company’s plans for that purpose.

This is the first time Tesla has offered lease deals on used inventory, as it has only offered an outright purchase option in the past. In an effort to boost deliveries and rid itself of older cars, these lease deals are truly beneficial for both parties. It is only a wonder how long they will last.

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