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EV Maker Rivian Halts Production of Amazon Delivery Vans amid Parts Shortage

An Amazon EV van powered by Rivian is parked at the Amazon Logistics Facility in Chicago, Illinois, US, July 21, 2022. REUTERS/Jim Vondruska/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
An Amazon EV van powered by Rivian is parked at the Amazon Logistics Facility in Chicago, Illinois, US, July 21, 2022. REUTERS/Jim Vondruska/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
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EV Maker Rivian Halts Production of Amazon Delivery Vans amid Parts Shortage

An Amazon EV van powered by Rivian is parked at the Amazon Logistics Facility in Chicago, Illinois, US, July 21, 2022. REUTERS/Jim Vondruska/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
An Amazon EV van powered by Rivian is parked at the Amazon Logistics Facility in Chicago, Illinois, US, July 21, 2022. REUTERS/Jim Vondruska/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

Rivian has temporarily suspended production of its commercial delivery vans used by retail giant Amazon.com due to a shortage of parts, a spokesperson for the electric vehicle manufacturer said on Friday.

Shares of the Irvine, California-based company were down 1.7% in premarket trading.

The production halt is the latest in a series of supply chain challenges for Rivian, which, like other EV makers, has grappled with significant production issues over the past two years due to supplier shortages, according to Reuters.

Amazon, Rivian's largest investor with a 16% stake, has ordered 100,000 electric delivery vans to be deployed by 2030. Last year, sales to Amazon represented approximately 19% of Rivian's revenue.

Amazon did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

"A part shortage has temporarily impacted our Electric Delivery Van (EDV) production. We expect to recover all missed production," the spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

The company did not disclose any information about the specific part and supplier in question, and also declined to comment on when the production stoppage began and if it has resumed.

The part shortage would not affect the production of other Rivian vehicles, including its R1S SUV and R1T pickup models.

Earlier this month, Rivian had maintained its production forecast and said that deliveries would be slightly lower in the current quarter after it shut down its factory in April for retooling and modifications.

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China Trials Cargo Drones, Air Taxis as Low-altitude Economy Gains Speed

An unmanned cargo aircraft developed by Sichuan Tengden Sci-tech Innovation Co. takes part in a maiden flight at an airport in Zigong, Sichuan province, China August 11, 2024. China Daily via REUTERS
An unmanned cargo aircraft developed by Sichuan Tengden Sci-tech Innovation Co. takes part in a maiden flight at an airport in Zigong, Sichuan province, China August 11, 2024. China Daily via REUTERS
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China Trials Cargo Drones, Air Taxis as Low-altitude Economy Gains Speed

An unmanned cargo aircraft developed by Sichuan Tengden Sci-tech Innovation Co. takes part in a maiden flight at an airport in Zigong, Sichuan province, China August 11, 2024. China Daily via REUTERS
An unmanned cargo aircraft developed by Sichuan Tengden Sci-tech Innovation Co. takes part in a maiden flight at an airport in Zigong, Sichuan province, China August 11, 2024. China Daily via REUTERS

Engineers sent China's biggest-yet cargo drone on a test run over the weekend while a helicopter taxi took to the skies on a soon-to-open 100-km (62-mile) route to Shanghai, laying new milestones for the country's expanding low-altitude economy.
Packing a payload capacity of 2 metric tons, the twin-engine cargo drone developed by state-funded Sichuan Tengden Sci-tech Innovation Co took off in southwestern Sichuan province on Sunday for its inaugural flight that lasted approximately 20 minutes, state media reported.
The Tengden-built drone, with a wingspan of 16.1 m (52.8 ft) and a height of 4.6 m (15 ft), is slightly larger than the world's most popular light aircraft, the four-seat Cessna 172, Reuters said.
Manufacturers in the world's top drone-making nation are testing ever larger payloads while transport companies are planning air taxi services both manned and unmanned as China loosens airspace curbs and grants incentives to build up a low-altitude economy. Its aviation regulator foresees a 2-trillion-yuan ($279-billion) industry by 2030, for a four-fold expansion from 2023.
The Tengden trial run followed the maiden flight in June of a cargo drone developed by state-owned Aviation Industry Corp of China (AVIC), the leading aerospace enterprise.
The AVIC's HH-100 has a payload capacity of 700 kg (1,543 pounds) and a flight radius of 520 km. Next year, AVIC plans to test its biggest cargo drone, the TP2000, which can carry up to 2 tons of cargo and fly four times farther than the HH-100.
China has already begun commercial deliveries by drone.
In May, cargo drone firm Phoenix Wings, part of delivery giant SF Express, started delivering fresh fruit from the island province of Hainan to southern Guangdong using Fengzhou-90 drones developed by SF, a unit of S.F. Holding.
Cargo drones promise shorter delivery times and lower transport costs, Chinese industry insiders say, while widening deliveries to sites lacking conventional aviation facilities, such as rooftop spaces in heavily built-up cities.
They could also ferry people on taxi services.
In April, aviation authorities issued a production certificate to unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) maker EHang Holdings, based in the southern city of Guangzhou, for its passenger-carrying drone, China's first such certification for an autonomous passenger drone.
In a report this year, the government identified the low-altitude economy as a new growth engine for the first time, with vertical mobility seen as a "new productive force" in areas such as passenger and cargo transport.
On Saturday, a manned commercial passenger helicopter took off for the first time from Kunshun, a city in Jiangsu province, to Shanghai Pudong Airport, state media said.
For one-way fares of up to 1,800 yuan, Shanghai NewSky Heli Co aims to cut travel time between the cities to 20 minutes from several hours. As many as 30,000 passengers a year are forecast to use the route, which opens on Aug. 18.
Shanghai aims to expand low-altitude routes to cover other cities in the Yangtze River delta.