Rivian has officially teamed up with the ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s to launch an electrified ice cream truck, weeks after the electric vehicle (EV) maker launched its van to more commercial customers.

As detailed in a press release on Tuesday, Rivian and Ben & Jerry’s have unveiled two “Scoop Trucks,” a pair of electric ice cream trucks based on the Rivian Commercial Van (RCV). Rivian officially launched the RCV to commercial customers beyond its early partner Amazon last month, and the Scoop Truck is one of the first we’ve seen of its modular use cases in the weeks since.

The companies plan to debut the first of the electric ice cream trucks at the South by Southwest (SXSW) music festival in Austin, Texas, which starts on Friday. After the festival, both of the Scoop Trucks will be hitting the road across the U.S., along with joining a series of pop-up events in Vermont, where Ben & Jerry’s is headquartered.

Credit: Ben & Jerry’s

Credit: Ben & Jerry’s

“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, Rivian’s Senior Director of Prototype Development. “We can’t wait for people to stop by for some ice cream and see it in action for the first time during SXSW!”

The Scoop Trucks appear to be the Rivian RCV 500, offering a 161-mile range, and an overall length of 248.5 inches. The electric van also includes a 100 kWh LFP battery pack, and Rivian says it can charge at speeds of up to 100 kW.

“Working with Rivian, an industry leader that is committed to sustainability is an ice cream dream come true,” notes Sean Slattery, Ben & Jerry’s U.S. Integrated Marketing project lead. “Today, Rivian helped Ben & Jerry’s reduce our reliance on fossil fuels in a small way, while making things a little bit cooler… which, as an ice cream company, is extremely difficult to do.”

A photo of one of the Rivian Scoop Trucks was also spotted and photographed being hauled in Irvine, California, as was shared on Reddit last week. As one viewer points out, the RCVs include an extra air conditioning unit on top of the van, in order to help keep necessary refrigeration running.

Credit: riceengineer | Reddit

Credit: Rivian

Credit: Rivian

Credit: Rivian

READ MORE ABOUT RIVIAN: Rivian releases its Q4 and full-year 2024 financial results

Along with the Ben & Jerry’s RCV, Rivian is partnering with SXSW on an “Electric Roadhouse” exhibit, which will include panel discussions, demo drives, live music, and even a look at the upcoming R2 line. Rivian is also set to be an official sponsor for the music festival’s Transportation Track event. The Scoop Truck is likely to play a role in the upcoming Rivian event, though the companies have yet to disclose where exactly it can be seen this weekend.

In December, Rivian announced that it has deployed 20,000 of the Electric Delivery Vans (EDVs), which are the Amazon-exclusive launch version of the RCVs. Produced alongside the R1T and R1S at the company’s factory in Normal, Illinois, the vans come in two configurations, the RCV 500 and the longer RCV 700, which are both currently being offered for fleet sales.

Rivian is also aiming to build a factory in Georgia with help from a $6.6 billion loan from the Department of Energy (DOE), though these plans are up in the air under the Trump administration’s recent freeze on federal grants and loans. CEO RJ Scaringe in January said that the automaker has already signed a “legally binding agreement” with the DOE, featuring a broad range of conditions that Rivian must meet along the way.

Rivian tech attracts other OEMs after VW joint venture

Tesla has launched fresh incentives for the Model 3 sedan, coming as the automaker aims to ramp up deliveries as part of its end-of-quarter push.

With just a few weeks left in the first quarter of year, Tesla is now offering three separate incentives for all Model 3 trims in the U.S., including zero-percent APR financing, $0 due at signing, and 60-month terms. The promos were announced on social media and they’re currently also detailed on the company’s order configurator for the electric vehicle (EV).

Credit: Tesla

Tesla North America announces a new set of incentives for the reengineered Model 3 sedan.🇺🇸

✅0% APR for all Model 3 trims
✅$0 due at signing
✅60 month terms

Not bad at all for one of the best bang-for-the-buck vehicles, electric or otherwise, in the market today. pic.twitter.com/3vM7Ioo2lV

— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) March 4, 2025

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To qualify for the zero-percent APR deal in the U.S., buyers must put a down payment of at least 15 percent down, though Tesla also says the federal tax credit can go toward this if eligible. The $0 due at signing deal comes at a 0.99 percent APR with the use of the tax credit, and both of the deals come with 60-month terms.

At the time of writing, the $7,500 federal tax credit is also still available for all three Model 3 trims, amidst some speculation around whether or not the Trump administration could do away with the government incentive. Tesla’s website does not currently show the incentive on the order configurator in Canada, though the company is still offering a 0.99-percent APR deal on orders placed before March 7. On the Mexico order configurator, neither of these promotions are currently available.

It’s common for Tesla to push additional promos at the end of each quarter, and especially at the end of the year, to try to boost delivery numbers that will be included with quarterly data. The news also comes after Tesla began deliveries of the Model Y refresh in the U.S. earlier this week, after first deliveries of the Gigafactory Shanghai-built SUV started going out last week.

Tesla originally launched the refreshed Model 3 last January, a few months after the redesigned sedan became available in the Asia-Pacific and Europe-Middle East markets. Not unlike the recently launched Model Y, the Model 3 “Highland” came with a number of interior and exterior upgrades in two configurations, before Tesla launched the highly-anticipated Performance trim in May.

Tesla’s sales of China-made electric vehicles dropped sharply in February, with the U.S. automaker selling 30,688 units wholesale, a 51.47% decline from January’s 63,238 and a 49.16% slide from the 60,365 vehicles that were sold wholesale in February 2024. 

Tesla China’s February 2025 results were reflected in data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

Tesla China’s 2025 sales:

Tesla China’s February 2025 wholesale figures come amidst the company’s transition to the new Model Y, an update to its strongest seller in the country. In the lead-up to the first deliveries of the new Model Y in late February, Tesla China likely cleared out its inventory of Model Y classic units, throttling sales of the all-electric crossover during the month.

Combined January-February 2025 sales for Tesla China currently stand at 93,926 units wholesale, as per a CNEV Post report. These represent a 28.74% decline from the 131,812 units sold wholesale in 2024’s first two months.

The new Model Y:

Tesla China introduced the new Model Y on January 10. At the time, Tesla China listed the revamped all-electric crossover’s first deliveries as sometime in March 2025. Deliveries of the new Model Y ultimately started on February 26, 2025.

The new Tesla Model Y offers a number of improvements compared to its predecessor, from an updated exterior that gives the vehicle a more aggressive look to an interior that addresses most of the complaints about the Model Y classic’s cabin. Upgrades include an updated suspension system and better sound isolation, which improve the new Model Y’s ride quality.

Previous reports:

A previous report from Bloomberg News back in January claimed that Tesla China will be pausing some of Giga Shanghai’s Model Y lines from January 22 to February 14 to optimize production equipment for the updated all-electric crossover. The publication also claimed that the facility’s Model 3 lines will be paused from January 26 to February 3 as well.

Considering that the Model Y is Tesla’s strongest seller in China, it would be interesting to see just how successful the vehicle will be in the country’s domestic market this year.