Jeff Bezos Unveils Amazon’s “Climate Pledge”

Green is the new black! Jeff Bezos recently unveiled Amazon’s Climate Pledge, a plan to reduce the company’s carbon emissions until it eventually reaches zero emissions by 2030. A major part of the pledge is that Amazon will order 100,000 electric delivery vehicles from Rivian, an electric vehicle startup that Amazon actually led an $700 million investment round for back in February.

What Does Amazon’s Climate Pledge Entail?

As part of the pledge, Bezos promised to:

• Measure and report Amazon’s emissions on a regular basis,
• Implement decarbonization strategies
• Alter its business strategies to offset remaining emissions

Bezos isn’t just holding Amazon accountable for reducing carbon emissions. He also called on other companies to join Amazon in going carbon neutral by 2040.

This is the Largest Order of Electric Vehicles…Ever

An order of 100,000 electric delivery vehicles is unprecedented, especially for a startup such as Rivian. In fact, according to Amazon, this order is the single largest order of electric vehicles ever. Bezos said that he expects the Rivian vehicles are expected to roll out by 2021.

Amazon’s order of Rivian’s electric vehicles are the latest in a growing trend of delivery innovation in the shipping industry. For example, UPS has been using TuSimple’s self-driving trucks since May of this year. USPS also worked with TuSimple in a two-week pilot program earlier in the summer, when the company’s self-driving trucks shuttled mail between Phoenix and Dallas. The Postal Service is also in the process of fitting vans with all-electric chassis from Cummins.

If things continue the way they are, we’d be willing to bet that in the near future, nearly every single delivery vehicle on the road will be either fully electric-powered or self-driving. Here’s to the future!