Amazon is starting to make good on its pledge to deploy 100,000 custom Rivian electric vans by 2030. The new vans will kick off package delivery in a dozen US cities, including Baltimore, Dallas, Nashville, San Diego, Seattle, and St. Louis. As a part of the operation, the company is also establishing charging infrastructure at its delivery depots.

"This rollout, this milestone of getting these vehicles actually on the road and having thousands of them by the end of this year, I do think shows that this can be done. It can be done at scale,” Udit Madan, head of last-mile delivery at Amazon, told Fast Company.

In addition to signaling a huge demand for commercial EVs, Amazon’s move symbolizes a huge, important shift: getting cars and trucks off of fossil fuels. Electrified transportation eliminates the tailpipe pollution of combustion-engine vehicles, which is good for the climate and people. Recent research suggests that there is no "safe level” of air pollution, and that air quality is one of the biggest factors in people’s health.

Over at the USPS, which is in the middle of updating its fleet, at least 40% of the new trucks will be electrified, a welcome change from the agency’s announcement earlier this year about a mass purchase of gas-powered trucks.