REVVING UP
Amazon invests $700 million in electric-car maker Rivian,
Amazon.com Inc. has climbed aboard the electric-vehicle bandwagon, leading a $700 million investment round for Rivian Automotive LLC, the carmaking startup said Friday.
“We’re inspired by Rivian’s vision for the future of electric transportation,” Jeff Wilke, chief executive of Amazon’s world-wide consumer division, said in prepared remarks.
Amazon has already placed bets in the area of driverless technology. Last week, the ecommerce giant announced it had invested $530 million in Aurora, an autonomous-vehicle startup run by former employees of Google’s Waymo and Tesla Inc. Early on, Aurora made deals with Volkswagen AG and Hyundai Motor Co. to install its mix of software and hardware in their vehicles.
Rivian, which was founded in 2009, unveiled an all-electric pickup truck and sport-utility vehicle at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November. The Rivian R1T pickup and R1S SUV are due to reach U.S. consumers in 2020 with a global rollout the following year. An electricpowered skateboard is also among Rivian’s offerings, which could fit into Amazon’s growing interest in transportation within its delivery chain. Amazon, whose delivery expenses rose 27% to $27.7 billion last year, is building out its capabilities to reduce its reliance on shippers like FedEx Corp.
Rivian, which is based in Plymouth, Mich., has more than 750 employees, including some located at facilities in California and England. It said it will remain an independent company after the latest equity-investment round, which includes participation from existing shareholders.