Bulletins
Amazon's new electric delivery van has Alexa and 'a dance floor'

Inside Amazon's new electric delivery vehicle.
Photo: Amazon
Source Code: Your daily look at what matters in tech.
To give you the best possible experience, this site uses cookies. If you continue browsing. you accept our use of cookies. You can review our privacy policy to find out more about the cookies we use.
Inside Amazon's new electric delivery vehicle.
The only way for Amazon to meet its goal to produce net zero carbon in the next 20 years is to rethink everything about its delivery infrastructure. And while it works on drones and other projects, its electric delivery van seems to be getting closer to hitting the road.
The company showed off one of three models it has been building with Rivian, which as of now doesn't have a name more interesting than "customized electric delivery vehicle." The car itself is much more interesting: It's made to be driven at least partially autonomously, with cameras and sensors all the way around the van. But it also has an extra-strong drivers' side door, a "large windshield to enhance driver visibility," and Alexa integration for getting directions and other information.The overall design aesthetic could be described as "background character in a Pixar movie," with round headlights and flat, snub front. It's obviously optimized for storage space, too, and has what Amazon calls "a dance floor" with plenty of space for delivery drivers to move around.
As for when the CEDV will join Amazon's delivery fleet, that's still unknown. But Amazon also said it's adding thousands of electric vehicles to its fleet this year, and that it's leaning into cargo e-bikes as another way to get around cities.
David Pierce ( @pierce) is Protocol's editor at large. Prior to joining Protocol, he was a columnist at The Wall Street Journal, a senior writer with Wired, and deputy editor at The Verge. He owns all the phones.
An agenda for the event, hosted by the Claremont Institute, listed speakers including U.S. CTO Michael Kratsios and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
The so-called "Digital Statecraft Summit" was organized by the Claremont Institute. The speakers include U.S. CTO Michael Kratsios and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, as well as a who's-who of far-right provocateurs.
Emily Birnbaum ( @birnbaum_e) is a tech policy reporter with Protocol. Her coverage focuses on the U.S. government's attempts to regulate one of the most powerful industries in the world, with a focus on antitrust, privacy and politics. Previously, she worked as a tech policy reporter with The Hill after spending several months as a breaking news reporter. She is a Bethesda, Maryland native and proud Kenyon College alumna.
Conservative investors, political operatives, right-wing writers and Trump administration officials are quietly meeting in Las Vegas this weekend to discuss topics including China, "woke tech" and "the new slave power," according to four people who were invited to attend or speak at the event as well as a copy of the agenda obtained by Protocol.
The so-called "Digital Statecraft Summit" was organized by the Claremont Institute, a conservative think tank that says its mission is to "restore the principles of the American Founding to their rightful, preeminent authority in our national life." A list of speakers for the event includes a combination of past and current government officials as well as a who's who of far-right provocateurs. One speaker, conservative legal scholar John Eastman, rallied the president's supporters at a White House event before the Capitol Hill riot earlier this month. Some others have been associated with racist ideologies.
Emily Birnbaum ( @birnbaum_e) is a tech policy reporter with Protocol. Her coverage focuses on the U.S. government's attempts to regulate one of the most powerful industries in the world, with a focus on antitrust, privacy and politics. Previously, she worked as a tech policy reporter with The Hill after spending several months as a breaking news reporter. She is a Bethesda, Maryland native and proud Kenyon College alumna.