Leaving the Ace Hardware in Northbrook, I noticed this Amazon Rivian Electric Delivery Van 700 — you could hardly miss it. One of thousands rolled out over the past 16 months in cities all over the country. I think I was drawn by its rich blue grey, rounded corners, and the way the top of that back wheel is covered by the bottom trim, a look I think of as "Citroen-like."
The vans get about 150 miles on a charge. Drivers usually use between 20 and 40 percent of the charge in a day. There are some interesting features — the driver's side door, for instance, swings out like any other truck door, but the passenger door is a pocket door — it slides rather than opening out, to avoid being clipped off by passing traffic or dooring cyclists.
There isn't a passenger seat — delivering packages is a one man job, for now, until Amazon figures out how to replace that person with a gizmo — but a jump seat that folds out if there's ever a second person who needs to ride in the van. Somone put a lot of thought into making it easy to make deliveries — for instance, put the van in park, and the door between the driver's compartment and the cargo area automatically slides open. It's tall — clearance height of 9'7, and most drivers can stand up fully inside.
I had a shock-of-the-new moment of confusion when I saw it, because I think of Prime as one of the streaming services we get, like Netflix or Hulu or Max.
What are they delivering? I wondered, idiotically, as I took this shot and then walked a few feet in the direction of home. Oh right, I thought, catching the back of the van. That place. They deliver a lot, actually. Hard to keep all this stuff straight sometimes.
What are they delivering? I wondered, idiotically, as I took this shot and then walked a few feet in the direction of home. Oh right, I thought, catching the back of the van. That place. They deliver a lot, actually. Hard to keep all this stuff straight sometimes.
I knew someone who had Perrier water delivered by the case. I wondered how much it must have irked the driver, but she didn’t care.
ReplyDeleteI'm have $1.97 high quality pens delivered from 2,000 miles away so it balances out.
ReplyDeleteWhy would that irk the driver? I don't get it.
ReplyDeleteHeavy, but cheap, I would guess.
Deletejohn
The geological sediment millions of years from now will contain Keurig pods, mask strings and phallus looking branded cardboard.
ReplyDeleteI'm relieved to hear you say that. I always thought the Amazon logo evoked an erection, but didn't want to be the guy who said that.
DeleteIt matches his rocket!
DeleteIt does look like an erection, but only if it's an example of Peyronie's disease, which causes curvature. Something I had never known about or heard about until I was educated and enlightened by TV commercials. At first, I thought it was caused by too much Italian beer. (Different spelling, though...that's Peroni.)
DeleteI believe the resemblance is on purpose.
DeleteI buy cat food and cat litter from Amazon because it's delivered right to my front door. But I've never seen it arrive in a Prime van.
ReplyDeleteYou should try Chewy for pet food. Prices are great, the delivery is great & they are really nice to you on the phone.
DeleteI go to Liz's on Chicago and Western for our pet supplies. Liz is there. She's very nice. She drives all the way in from some far away suburb to stand behind the counter all day. Making small talk with people. She remembers your name. She's delightful and I have no idea how her prices compare because I've never looked. I just go see Liz every once in a while. She tells me that we have a free bag coming because we bought 10 of them or something I don't know. But it's sad that Amazon has put so many of these types of businesses out of business. So the next time I see Liz she'll probably be driving one of their delivery vans
DeleteBecause of physical issues, I don't do much physical shopping. I find Amazon slightly cheaper than Chewy for pet food and supplies. I get all my flea and tick stuff from vetshoponline. You don't need a prescription and it is less expensive than anyone by far. Oh, and it's an Australian company. Why, you ask yourself, is it cheaper to get your Barecto or Nexgard from Australia? I don't know; go ask Boerhinger Ingelheim Animal Health USA.
DeleteWe’re all spoiled by Amazon online shopping and delivery to our door. Order whatever you want and it’s free returns if you don’t like it, for whatever reason. The only effort expended on our part is fingers on keyboard and opening the front door to retrieve the package. Quite a cushy lifestyle we have these days!!
ReplyDeleteIn my limited experience, Amazon has started making more mistakes than usual. And, of course, now that we're hooked, returning those half a dozen shirts we ordered that we decided didn't really look that great is going to cost us. No more externality advantage for the poor man, alas.
Deletejohn
My house is in a unique location. I live at a T intersection. One cross-arm of the T forms another T. The other cross-arm curves off in two directions--and the intersection resembles a tuning fork. Long story short, I can see twenty other houses from my front, side, and back windows.
DeleteAnd there seems to be a constant parade of Amazon Prime vehicles, making deliveries to most of them. One house, directly across the street, often gets several deliveries a day, and I have to wonder...do they deliver food and water to these folks, or what? Other houses also get drop-offs...but far fewer.
We hardly ever get Amazon deliveries...my wife gets most stuff via USPS, UPS, or Fed Ex. But mainly, she still prefers to shop at a rapidly-diminishing number of brick-and-mortar retail outfits. She often writes checks, too. Hey...we're old!
The first thing I noticed about the amazing Rivian vans are the tail lights that cover three sides of the rear. And the silence when they pass you by.
ReplyDeleteSaw my first ‘fancy’ Amazon delivery van yesterday in downtown Chicago- I thought who is advertising Amazon! The EV part totally escaped me!
ReplyDeleteI worry about the returns. I seem to return a lot. Department stores would have watched someone like that, but Amazon I’d not a department store. I wonder how many returns end up in landfills instead of being restocked
ReplyDeleteThey offers bundle the returns into pallet size packages and then you can buy them on the internet for a fraction of the price. Well supposedly cuz they really don't tell you what's in them. You just buy the pallet. I guess some guy with a dollar store figures. I'll roll the dice for 150 bucks and see what I get and then resell it for a profit
DeleteI just had a replacement electric motor for my 60 gal air compressor delivered. Must weigh 60lbs. Hope the driver had a lift belt.
ReplyDeleteI haven't done the math but I've come to believe that Amazon saves energy, at least for me. Small adapters for electronics and odd pieces of household hardware that might require several trips to several stores can be ordered on line from the Bezos Book Outlet. At first I questioned your mileage for the truck, but with computer designed routes 50-75 miles a day seems reasonable. If each truck load saves a mile per customer/package it's probably better for the environment in the long run. That you didn't immediately recognize Prime as Amazon shows a difference in perception. I would guess that you don't use Amazon as much as I do.
ReplyDeleteIf you really do the math, the key is to not buy so much stuff. We're ruining the world for our convenience. And consumption. It's nice that you think about these things, but if you really think about it .Stop. Don't all of us really have enough crap?
DeleteUPS vans have had sliding/pocket doors on both sides for as long as I can remember.
ReplyDeleteThe Amazon logo resembles an erection-now that I've seen it, I can't unsee it.-Thanks-I think.
ReplyDeleteGood for them for using electric vehicles. Trucks and buses, with regular schedules, seem like the most sensible palce to start. Personal big pick-up trucks don't make sense right now.
ReplyDeleteI’m amazed that so many use Amazon, or other delivery services.
ReplyDeleteI must be weird….doesn’t anyone go to a store to shop anymore?
Sorry, forgot to add my name(😵💫).
ReplyDeleteSandyK
Hate to sound like the old man that I am...but why are Amazon and UPS and other delivery companies like them allowed to ignore parking regulations? They don't get ticketed as far as I can tell. And the drivers aren't evidently told by their bosses that they must follow the parking laws. It's really a safety thing: in my suburb, the streets are curvy and if someone is parked legally on one side and Amazon parks illegally on the other, it's just a blind disaster waiting to happen...Harrumph.
ReplyDelete