Amazon tests GM EV delivery vans in bid to meet climate goals

Amazon.com Inc. has been quietly evaluating General Motors Co.’s BrightDrop electric van, evidence that the e-commerce company continues to explore options to reduce the carbon emissions of its sprawling delivery operation.

Amazon confirmed in a statement to Bloomberg that it was testing the vehicles. “We’re committed to having 100,000 electric delivery vehicles on the road by 2030, and we regularly test various vehicle options — including a small number of Chevrolet BrightDrops in our fleet,” Steve Kelly, a company spokesperson, said in an emailed statement.

The pilot, though modest – about 12 vehicles, according to Amazon — places the GM vans among a fleet that also includes vehicles built by Ford Motor Co., Mercedes-Benz Group AG, Stellantis NV, as well as Rivian Automotive Inc., the electric vehicle startup Amazon backed with a massive investment and an order for 100,000 electric vans to be delivered by 2030.

The partnership with Rivian and the rollout of its bug-eyed vans have featured heavily in Amazon’s sustainability marketing, but the company still makes many deliveries from gasoline-powered vehicles like Ford Transit and Ram ProMaster vans. Rivian has cut jobs and vehicle delivery targets as it works to bring new consumer models to market and contends with President Donald Trump’s tariffs and the looming expiration of the US EV tax credit.

A GM spokeswoman said the automaker sold Amazon a small batch of vans in 2023. Getting in the door with Amazon could be a win if the Detroit automaker can build on the relationship and push beyond a pilot program. GM launched BrightDrop in 2021 as a new business unit to target fleet customers, with the goal of also supplying them with software to track shipments and deliveries.

The division struggled to gain traction and, by August 2024, GM folded it into GM Envolve, its fleet business division. GM electric van sales are growing but remain tiny. Chevy sold just under 1,600 of them in the first half of the year. By comparison, GM sold more than twice as many electric Cadillac Escalade IQs. GM even idled the van plant in April amid slow sales.

Amazon buys vans in bulk and, through fleet management companies, leases them to its network of contract delivery firms. The company has tested more than 15 EV models and has more than 31,000 on the road, including over 24,000 Rivian vans. Substituting electric vehicles for gasoline-powered ones is a cornerstone of Amazon’s effort to reduce carbon emissions.

The company’s contract delivery firms also use their own vehicles, including BrightDrop vans they’ve leased themselves.

— By Matt Day and David Welch (Bloomberg)