• Rivian was the largest manufacturer of electric vans in the U.S. last year.
• Its Commercial Van (RCV) outsold the Ford E-Transit and Mercedes-Benz eSprinter combined.
• GM’s Chevrolet BrightDrop van made it into the top 3.

With news of Rivian’s R1S electric SUV making it on the top 10 list of best-selling EVs last year, it’s easy to forget that the California-based startup also makes commercial vehicles. And while vans aren’t particularly exciting–they’re basically big metal boxes on wheels–Rivian’s humble Electric Delivery Van (EDV), later renamed as the Commercial Van (RCV), sold more units in 2024 than the R1T pickup.

Not only that, it was the best-selling electric van in the United States last year, toppling heavyweights like Ford and Mercedes-Benz–two automakers with a long history of making commercial vehicles.

Rivian sold 13,423 electric vans in 2024, an increase of 66% over 2023 when it sold 8,091 units, according to data from research firm Cox Automotive. Meanwhile, Ford sold 12,610 units of the E-Transit, one of the longest-standing electric vans on the American market. That’s a 64% increase over 2023, so it’s still very impressive.

In third place on the best-selling electric vans in the U.S. list is General Motors’ BrightDrop van. Initially sold under a standalone brand and later moved under Chevrolet’s umbrella, GM’s battery-powered commercial vehicle sold 1,529 units last year.

Next is the Mercedes-Benz eSprinter. The German automaker sold just 191 units of the American-made EV stateside last year, according to Cox Automotive. The U.S.-spec electric van is assembled in Charleston, South Carolina and sales of the latest-generation model kicked off in the second half of 2023. In other words, it had a full year of sales in 2024.

Data from Cox Automotive

Rivian’s largest customer for its electric van is most likely Amazon. The two companies had an exclusivity agreement where Rivian would deliver 100,000 battery-powered vans to the American e-commerce giant by 2030. The exclusivity agreement ended and any company can now buy a Rivian van, but the supply deal is still standing.

We don’t have precise data, but we know from previous reports that Rivian delivered roughly 700 vans per month on average to Amazon last year. This means approximately 8,400 units out of the total of 13,423 went to Amazon. At the same time, though, it means Rivian found customers for 5,000 electric vans elsewhere, which is more than Chevrolet and Mercedes-Benz managed with the BrightDrop van and eSprinter respectively.