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Rivian teams up with Ben & Jerry’s on an electric ice cream truck
The age-old ice cream truck gets some new electric digs.
Rivian has officially teamed up with the ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s to launch an electrified ice cream truck, weeks after the electric vehicle (EV) maker launched its van to more commercial customers.
As detailed in a press release on Tuesday, Rivian and Ben & Jerry’s have unveiled two “Scoop Trucks,” a pair of electric ice cream trucks based on the Rivian Commercial Van (RCV). Rivian officially launched the RCV to commercial customers beyond its early partner Amazon last month, and the Scoop Truck is one of the first we’ve seen of its modular use cases in the weeks since.
The companies plan to debut the first of the electric ice cream trucks at the South by Southwest (SXSW) music festival in Austin, Texas, which starts on Friday. After the festival, both of the Scoop Trucks will be hitting the road across the U.S., along with joining a series of pop-up events in Vermont, where Ben & Jerry’s is headquartered.
Credit: Ben & Jerry’s
Credit: Ben & Jerry’s
“Collaborating with the Ben & Jerry’s team to build the next generation of electric scoop trucks has been an incredible experience. It’s one of those projects that just makes the team smile,” said Brian Gase, Rivian’s Senior Director of Prototype Development. “We can’t wait for people to stop by for some ice cream and see it in action for the first time during SXSW!”
The Scoop Trucks appear to be the Rivian RCV 500, offering a 161-mile range, and an overall length of 248.5 inches. The electric van also includes a 100 kWh LFP battery pack, and Rivian says it can charge at speeds of up to 100 kW.
“Working with Rivian, an industry leader that is committed to sustainability is an ice cream dream come true,” notes Sean Slattery, Ben & Jerry’s U.S. Integrated Marketing project lead. “Today, Rivian helped Ben & Jerry’s reduce our reliance on fossil fuels in a small way, while making things a little bit cooler… which, as an ice cream company, is extremely difficult to do.”
A photo of one of the Rivian Scoop Trucks was also spotted and photographed being hauled in Irvine, California, as was shared on Reddit last week. As one viewer points out, the RCVs include an extra air conditioning unit on top of the van, in order to help keep necessary refrigeration running.
Credit: riceengineer | Reddit
Credit: Rivian
Credit: Rivian
Credit: Rivian
READ MORE ABOUT RIVIAN: Rivian releases its Q4 and full-year 2024 financial results
Along with the Ben & Jerry’s RCV, Rivian is partnering with SXSW on an “Electric Roadhouse” exhibit, which will include panel discussions, demo drives, live music, and even a look at the upcoming R2 line. Rivian is also set to be an official sponsor for the music festival’s Transportation Track event. The Scoop Truck is likely to play a role in the upcoming Rivian event, though the companies have yet to disclose where exactly it can be seen this weekend.
In December, Rivian announced that it has deployed 20,000 of the Electric Delivery Vans (EDVs), which are the Amazon-exclusive launch version of the RCVs. Produced alongside the R1T and R1S at the company’s factory in Normal, Illinois, the vans come in two configurations, the RCV 500 and the longer RCV 700, which are both currently being offered for fleet sales.
Rivian is also aiming to build a factory in Georgia with help from a $6.6 billion loan from the Department of Energy (DOE), though these plans are up in the air under the Trump administration’s recent freeze on federal grants and loans. CEO RJ Scaringe in January said that the automaker has already signed a “legally binding agreement” with the DOE, featuring a broad range of conditions that Rivian must meet along the way.
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Tesla FSD and Robotaxis are making people aware how bad human drivers are
These observations really show that Tesla’s focus on autonomy would result in safer roads for everyone.
Tesla FSD and the Robotaxi network are becoming so good in their self-driving performance, they are starting to highlight just how bad humans really are at driving.
This could be seen in several observations from the electric vehicle community.
Robotaxis are better than Uber, actually
Tesla’s Robotaxi service is only available in Austin and the Bay Area for now, but those who have used the service have generally been appreciative of its capabilities and performance. Some Robotaxi customers have observed that the service is simply so much more affordable than Uber, and its driving is actually really good.
One veteran Tesla owner, @BLKMDL3, recently noted that the Robotaxi service has become better than Uber simply because FSD now drives better than some human drivers. Apart from the fact that Robotaxis allow riders to easily sync their phones to the rear display, the vehicles generally provide a significantly more comfortable ride than their manually-driven counterparts from Uber.
FSD is changing the narrative, one ride at a time
It appears that FSD V14 really is something special. The update has received wide acclaim from users since it was released, and the positive reactions are still coming. This was highlighted in a recent post from Tesla owner Travis Nicolette, who shared a recent experience with FSD. As per the Tesla owner, he was quite surprised as his car was able to accomplish a U-turn in a way that exceeded human drivers.
Yet another example of FSD’s smooth and safe driving was showcased in a recent video, which showed a safety monitor of a Bay Area Robotaxi falling asleep in the driver’s seat. In any other car, a driver falling asleep at the wheel could easily result in a grave accident, but thanks to FSD, both the safety monitor and the passengers remained safe.
These observations, if any, really show that Tesla’s focus on autonomy would result in safer roads for everyone. As per the IIHS, there were 40,901 deaths from motor vehicle crashes in the United States in 2023. The NHTSA also estimated that in 2017, 91,000 police-reported crashes involved drowsy drivers. These crashes led to an estimated 50,000 people injured and 800 deaths. FSD could lower all these tragic statistics by a notable margin.
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Tesla lands approval for Robotaxi operation in third U.S. state
On Tuesday, Tesla officially received regulatory approval from the State of Arizona, making it the third state for the company to receive approval in.
Tesla has officially landed approval to operate its Robotaxi ride-hailing service in its third U.S. state, as it has landed a regulatory green light from the State of Arizona’s Department of Transportation.
Tesla has been working to expand to new U.S. states after launching in Texas and California earlier this year. Recently, it said it was hoping to land in Nevada, Arizona, and Florida, expanding to five new cities in those three states.
On Tuesday, Tesla officially received regulatory approval from the State of Arizona, making it the third state for the company to receive approval in:
BREAKING: Tesla has officially received approval from the Arizona Department of Transportation to launch its Robotaxi service on public roads in the state!
I just confirmed directly with the Arizona DOT that @Tesla applied for a Transportation Network Company permit on Nov 13th.… pic.twitter.com/iKbwfGfiju
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) November 18, 2025
Tesla has also been working on approvals in Nevada and Florida, and it has also had Robotaxi test mules spotted in Pennsylvania.
The interesting thing about the Arizona approval is the fact that Tesla has not received an approval for any specific city; it appears that it can operate statewide. However, early on, Tesla will likely confine its operation to just one or two cities to keep things safe and controlled.
Over the past few months, Robotaxi mules have been spotted in portions of Phoenix and surrounding cities, such as Scottsdale, as the company has been attempting to cross off all the regulatory Ts that it is confronted with as it attempts to expand the ride-hailing service.
It appears the company will be operating it similarly to how it does in Texas, which differs from its California program. In Austin, there is no Safety Monitor in the driver’s seat, unless the route requires freeway travel. In California, there is always a Safety Monitor in the driver’s seat. However, this is unconfirmed.
Earlier today, Tesla enabled its Robotaxi app to be utilized for ride-hailing for anyone using the iOS platform.
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Tesla ride-hailing Safety Monitor dozes off during Bay Area ride
We won’t try to blame the camera person for the incident, because it clearly is not their fault. But it seems somewhat interesting that they did not try to wake the driver up and potentially contact Tesla immediately to alert them of the situation.
A Tesla Robotaxi Safety Monitor appeared to doze off during a ride in the California Bay Area, almost ironically proving the need for autonomous vehicles.
The instance was captured on camera and posted to Reddit in the r/sanfrancisco subreddit by u/ohmichael. They wrote that they have used Tesla’s ride-hailing service in the Bay Area in the past and had pleasant experiences.
However, this one was slightly different. They wrote:
“I took a Tesla Robotaxi in SF just over a week ago. I have used the service a few times before and it has always been great. I actually felt safer than in a regular rideshare.
This time was different. The safety driver literally fell asleep at least three times during the ride. Each time the car’s pay attention safety alert went off and the beeping is what woke him back up.
I reported it through the app to the Robotaxi support team and told them I had videos, but I never got a response.
I held off on posting anything because I wanted to give Tesla a chance to respond privately. It has been more than a week now and this feels like a serious issue for other riders too.
Has anyone else seen this happen?”
My Tesla Robotaxi “safety” driver fell asleep
byu/ohmichael insanfrancisco
The driver eventually woke up after prompts from the vehicle, but it is pretty alarming to see someone like this while they’re ultimately responsible for what happens with the ride.
We won’t try to blame the camera person for the incident, because it clearly is not their fault. But it seems somewhat interesting that they did not try to wake the driver up and potentially contact Tesla immediately to alert them of the situation.
They should have probably left the vehicle immediately.
Tesla’s ride-hailing service in the Bay Area differs from the one that is currently active in Austin, Texas, due to local regulations. In Austin, there is no Safety Monitor in the driver’s seat unless the route requires the highway.
Tesla plans to remove the Safety Monitors in Austin by the end of the year.
Tesla FSD and Robotaxis are making people aware how bad human drivers are
Tesla lands approval for Robotaxi operation in third U.S. state
