Amazon said it placed an order for 100,000 electric delivery vans from Michigan-based startup Rivian.

The first vans could be in service in 2021, with prototypes arriving perhaps as soon as 2020. The full deployment is expected by 2024.

Vehicles are built on a skateboard-inspired chassis. Source: RivianRivian has developed two "clean sheet" electric vehicles, the R1T truck and the R1S SUV. The design is based on a skateboard-inspired platform, and the early versions are expected to offer up to 400 miles of range.

The skateboard chassis concept dates back at least to 2002 and to what was known as the Autonomy concept car from General Motors. That car housed all of its working parts in the vehicle's wheelbase. The design allowed the same platform to be used for more than one model.

The GM concept included drive-by-wire technology rather than mechanical controls for functions like throttle adjustment and steering. GM proposed using a compact hydrogen fuel cell for power and electric drive motors mounted in the wheels. Some observers said the basic design was a throw-back to the kind of chassis that was commonly used in early 20th-century auto production.

Venture capital investors

In early September, Rivian announced an equity investment of $350 million from global automotive services company Cox Automotive. In addition to the investment, the companies will explore partnership opportunities in service operations, logistics and digital retailing. Cox Automotive has nearly 30 automotive brands, including Autotrader, Kelley Blue Book, Pivet, RideKleen and Manheim, which transports, services and auctions vehicles across more than 150 locations around the world.

Manufacturing plant in Normal, Illinois. Source: RivianThe Cox investment is Rivian’s third of 2019. It follows a $700 million investment round in February led by Amazon, and in April, a $500 million investment from Ford Motor Co.

Rivian has development centers in Plymouth, Michigan; San Jose, California; Irvine, California; and Surrey, England; along with a 2.6 million sq ft manufacturing plant in Normal, Illinois. That plant was formerly occupied by Mitsubishi. Rivian expects to launch the R1T and R1S in the U.S. in late 2020 and other locations starting in 2021.