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The next time you place an Amazon order in the Madison area, you may see one of the e-commerce giant’s new electric delivery vans show up at your door.

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MADISON, Wis. — The next time you place an Amazon order in the Madison area, you may see one of the e-commerce giant’s new electric delivery vans show up at your door.

The vans, which are built for Amazon by electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian, began rolling out nationwide last summer. By the holiday season, the company said it had more than 1,000 of the vehicles on the roads in more than 100 cities, including Madison.

Amazon distribution service provider Perfect Puzzle has 16 of the new vans, which general manager Daniel Schuster said not only help reduce their carbon footprint but also come loaded with safety sensors and cameras to keep drivers and pedestrians alike safe. 

“They’re a lot more efficient for… our drivers, associates,” Schuster said. “When they’re out there, it’s a lot more efficient to be able to function with this van versus one of the regular vans because a lot of it’s automated for you and it’s in your dash(board) so you’re not looking at a small screen on your phone to see where you’re going, and it keeps your eyes more on the road.”

The vans have an estimated range of 144 miles, but Perfect Puzzle keeps drivers within an 86-mile round trip to make sure there are no issues getting back to the station to charge at the end of a shift.

Since the vehicles have launched, Schuster said he has noticed his fleet’s routes have been getting done more quickly and efficiently.

Schuster said he isn’t sure when or if Perfect Puzzle will be getting any more of the vans in the future, but Amazon has committed to putting 100,000 of them on the road by 2030.

​COPYRIGHT 2023 BY CHANNEL 3000. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.