I scream! You scream! We all scream for… Rivian? Apparently we do, if the latest news out of Vermont is anything to go by. According to Ben & Jerrys and Elektrek, everyone’s favorite hippie uncles are teaming up with ace EV maker Rivian to build fancy pants B&J ice cream trucks. These “scoop trucks” as they’re calling them will be built on Rivian’s RCV-series commercial vans, the charming, friend-shaped electric delivery vans that Amazon has been rolling for the past few years.
The scoop trucks will make their debut at South by Southwest, the annual film, music, and culture festival held in Austin, Texas. After SXSW, which runs from March 7 to March 15, 2025, the new scoop trucks will be dispatched all across the country to support both Rivian community events and special Ben & Jerry’s shindigs. Just think, soon you’ll be able to buy your Chunky Monkey and Cherry Garcia from the back of a sleek electric Rivian van instead of a beat-up, sketchy looking old panel van playing a MIDI mix of Turkey in the Straw. What a time to be alive.
“Collaborating with the Ben & Jerry’s team to build the next generation of electric scoop trucks has been an incredible experience. It’s one of those projects that just makes the team smile,” said Brian Gase, Senior Director of Prototype Development at Rivian. “We can’t wait for people to stop by for some ice cream and see it in action for the first time during SXSW!”
A Rivian/B&J match up seems like a no-brainer. One of Ben and Jerry’s core missions, aside from making really good ice cream with punny names, is using the company’s money and pull to try to make the world a better place. On the company’s website, it states that its values are “Human Rights & Dignity”, “Social & Economic Justice”, and “Environmental Protection, Restoration, & Regeneration.” It makes sense, then that the company would partner with an EV company to build out some environmentally friendly ice cream trucks.
How Sweet It Is
The creation of B&J’s scoop trucks was made possible, in part, by Rivian’s recent announcement that the company would sell its RCV-series vans to anyone with the cash to buy one. See, up until recently, Rivian only sold the vans to big commercial fleet buyers. From the van’s introduction in 2019 until 2023, it had one user—Amazon. This was only fair, seeing as how Amazon helped fund its development. After Amazon’s exclusivity agreement ran out in 2023, however, Rivian offered the EDV to other companies with huge fleets of ICE vehicles like AT&T. Now, as of Feb 2025, Rivian will sell the van to all comers, as long as they’re a business.
The RCV-series (née EDV) consists of two models—the RCV 500 and RCV 700. The numbers correspond to the cubic feet of storage each van can carry—487 and 652 respectively—and the total carry weight is around 2,500 pounds. Range is pretty respectable at 150 miles for the 700 and 161 miles for the 500, and both vans can charge at stations with either j1172 or CCS1 connectors with fast charging speeds up to 100 kW. They will, of course, have the same handsome, friendly styling of Amazon’s EDV vans.
While Rivian plans to sell the RCV-series vans to just about anyone, including individuals, they’re not for sale to the hoi polloi like you and me. You have to be a business to buy one, so you can expect to start seeing them pop up in local plumber, florist, and other small business livery eventually. There’s no word on if and when Rivian will sell these for non-business purposes, so if you’re a van nerd looking to get into one of these just because, you’re out of luck.
