Amazon will buy thousands of pedal-assist cargo vehicles from Rivian spinoff Also

In addition, micromobility startup Rivian spun off a commercial deal with Amazon to supply the e-commerce company with thousands of its new pedal-assist cargo quad cars that are big enough to carry packages over 400 pounds and small enough to use a bike lane.

Under the multi-year collaboration, the two companies will work to customize pedal-assisted vehicles to meet Amazon’s delivery needs in Europe and the US. The TM-Q pedal-assist electric quads will launch in 2026, according to Also, which was revealed at an event in Oakland on Wednesday alongside the company’s new ebike called the TM-B.

Also despite being a new company, its executives already have a long-standing relationship with Amazon. Rivian, the EV maker that was also born, is backed by Amazon and has provided the company with more than that Its 25,000 electric delivery vans.

“We really understand how to work with each other,” Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scarring told TechCrunch ahead of the event, adding that what they learned from the EDV van program poured into the project. “This is where having Rivian as a major shareholder is very beneficial because we can do all this tight coordination through a fleet management portal that manages your large vehicles such as EDV vans and also products.”

The advantage is knowing exactly what Amazon needs, Scaringe added. “There is no guesswork and Rivian also benefited from a lot of input from the team, which was involved, because they are so close to Amazon.

Also started as a skunkworks within Rivian and spun out of the EV maker earlier this year with a new name and $105 million in funding. Eclipse Ventures. It is also a standalone company, but has close ties to Rivian, which holds a minority stake. Scaringe will serve on its board, and will also use — and already have — the automaker’s technology, retail presence, and economies of scale.

The TM-Q and Also’s TM-B ebikes share the same DNA, including the drivetrain, a pedal-by-wire system developed by Also. Even some of the physical elements, notably the handlebars and a built-in five-inch circular touchscreen that can be turned to lock and unlock the car, are the same. That touchscreen unit, which displays navigation, media controls, fitness stats and assistance levels, also syncs with the app to let users check their battery charge, download software updates and manage security.

The vehicles also share the same battery technology, although quad cargo vehicles have a higher power capacity. Instead of including a large battery in electric quad vehicles, it also keeps them portable and removable. President Chris Yu also said the company is working on making battery docking stations so you can actually swap them out.

Unlike its two-wheeler consumer sibling, the TM-Q will be built for commercial use and will include software that manages logistics, delivery and charging. According to Emily Barber, director of Amazon’s global fleet, the TM-Q’s small size and pedal-assist system make it ideal for delivering packages to customers living in dense, urban areas.

There is also already an operational micromobility operation for quad cargo vehicles. Amazon has more than 70 micromobility hubs in cities across America and Europe, Barber said.

Amazon won’t be the only TM-Q customer, though. Yu also said, noting how popular the quad design has been within the company, its quad cargo vehicles won’t be entirely limited to commercial customers. The company unveiled a consumer TM-Q that has the same underlying quad platform, but lacks the delivery van topper. Instead, the car has a bench system that is spacious enough to carry some friends, kids, pets or groceries.

And there may be other iterations in the future, Yu and Scaringe hinted.

“It’s less about what’s on top here and more about the underlying quad platform,” Yu said.

This comes with a distinct advantage, Scaringe noted. “What I love about these is, it’s like a billion dollars to put a new top hat on a car; to put a new top hat here, it’s a lot less,” he said with a laugh.