Rivian has formally teamed up with the ice cream firm Ben & Jerry’s to launch an electrified ice cream truck, weeks after the electrical automobile (EV) maker launched its van to extra business prospects.
As detailed in a press launch on Tuesday, Rivian and Ben & Jerry’s have unveiled two “Scoop Vehicles,” a pair of electrical ice cream vans primarily based on the Rivian Industrial Van (RCV). Rivian formally launched the RCV to business prospects past its early accomplice Amazon final month, and the Scoop Truck is likely one of the first we’ve seen of its modular use circumstances within the weeks since.
The businesses plan to debut the primary of the electrical ice cream vans on the South by Southwest (SXSW) music pageant in Austin, Texas, which begins on Friday. After the pageant, each of the Scoop Vehicles will likely be hitting the street throughout the U.S., together with becoming a member of a sequence of pop-up occasions in Vermont, the place Ben & Jerry’s is headquartered.
Credit score: Ben & Jerry’s
Credit score: Ben & Jerry’s
“Collaborating with the Ben & Jerry’s group to construct the subsequent technology of electrical scoop vans has been an unimaginable expertise. It’s a type of tasks that simply makes the group smile,” mentioned Brian Gase, Rivian’s Senior Director of Prototype Growth. “We are able to’t anticipate folks to cease by for some ice cream and see it in motion for the primary time throughout SXSW!”
The Scoop Vehicles look like the Rivian RCV 500, providing a 161-mile vary, and an general size of 248.5 inches. The electrical van additionally features a 100 kWh LFP battery pack, and Rivian says it could possibly cost at speeds of as much as 100 kW.
“Working with Rivian, an business chief that’s dedicated to sustainability is an ice cream dream come true,” notes Sean Slattery, Ben & Jerry’s U.S. Built-in Advertising undertaking lead. “At the moment, Rivian helped Ben & Jerry’s scale back our reliance on fossil fuels in a small method, whereas making issues just a little bit cooler… which, as an ice cream firm, is extraordinarily troublesome to do.”
A photograph of one of many Rivian Scoop Vehicles was additionally noticed and photographed being hauled in Irvine, California, as was shared on Reddit final week. As one viewer factors out, the RCVs embody an additional air-con unit on high of the van, to be able to assist maintain mandatory refrigeration working.
Credit score: riceengineer | Reddit
Credit score: Rivian
Credit score: Rivian
Credit score: Rivian
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Together with the Ben & Jerry’s RCV, Rivian is partnering with SXSW on an “Electrical Roadhouse” exhibit, which is able to embody panel discussions, demo drives, dwell music, and even a take a look at the upcoming R2 line. Rivian can also be set to be an official sponsor for the music pageant’s Transportation Monitor occasion. The Scoop Truck is prone to play a task within the upcoming Rivian occasion, although the businesses have but to reveal the place precisely it may be seen this weekend.
In December, Rivian introduced that it has deployed 20,000 of the Electrical Supply Vans (EDVs), that are the Amazon-exclusive launch model of the RCVs. Produced alongside the R1T and R1S on the firm’s manufacturing unit in Regular, Illinois, the vans are available two configurations, the RCV 500 and the longer RCV 700, that are each presently being supplied for fleet gross sales.
Rivian can also be aiming to construct a manufacturing unit in Georgia with assist from a $6.6 billion mortgage from the Division of Vitality (DOE), although these plans are up within the air underneath the Trump administration’s latest freeze on federal grants and loans. CEO RJ Scaringe in January mentioned that the automaker has already signed a “legally binding settlement” with the DOE, that includes a broad vary of situations that Rivian should meet alongside the best way.
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