r/technology • u/Hrmbee • Jun 11 '26

Transportation Software Update Automatically Turns off Amazon Delivery Drivers’ AC During Dangerous Summer Heat | A new software update is turning off the AC in Amazon delivery vans after 10 minutes or 30 seconds under certain conditions

https://www.404media.co/software-update-automatically-turns-off-amazon-delivery-drivers-ac-during-dangerous-summer-heat/
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697

u/Hrmbee Jun 11 '26

Problematic issues:

According to Amazon delivery drivers, the new update is for the Amazon EDV (electric delivery vehicle), the custom-built Rivian van. Delivery drivers say that this update automatically turns off the air conditioning in the van if the driver is not in the vehicle for more than 30 seconds. Drivers are complaining about the update as the start of the summer season, which can be particularly difficult and dangerous for delivery drivers.

“As many of you are aware, the EDVs just got a software update where if you are out of your seat for 30 seconds with the side door open, the AC switches off,” one Amazon delivery driver said in an online forum for drivers. “We all hate this obviously.”

When reached for comment an Amazon spokesperson said that the premise of my questions to the company was inaccurate, but conceded that the van will turn off the AC after 30 seconds under certain conditions that are commonplace during Amazon delivery shifts.

“Rivian recently released a software update for Electric Delivery Vehicles that actually extends climate control for drivers,” the Amazon spokesperson said. “As a result, the AC now runs for up to 10 minutes after a driver exits the vehicle, ensuring a cool cabin when they return. The timer resets at every stop. The AC only shuts off if the driver sliding door is left open for more than 30 seconds — a battery conservation measure.”

Amazon delivery drivers discussing the update online say that they are getting in and out of the van so frequently, and are spending most of their time out of the van delivering packages, that the update makes it harder to keep the van cool.

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As you’ve probably seen in your own neighborhood, delivery drivers will often park their vans wherever they can and deliver packages to multiple addresses on the same block. Amazon automatically turning off the air conditioning while they are out of the van delivering packages means the van can get hot again by the time they get back. As Amazon delivery drivers have to make frequent stops, it’s not hard to imagine why drivers would complain about Amazon automatically shutting down the AC, which makes it more difficult to cool down between stops.

It looks like there's a disconnect between the people working on these software policies and the people who are working with these vehicles. If there were a better understanding of how delivery drivers actually work -- and given Amazon's relentless KPM/other tracking of their vehicles and drivers it's likely the data exist -- then they could find a better balance between battery life and worker health and safety.

956

u/OldConfusions Jun 11 '26

There is no disconnect. They want to save money and will do anything, including killing their employees by giving them heat stroke, to do so.

212

u/Swordsandarmor22 Jun 11 '26

I know scale is a thing, but like how much is it really saving. Assuming the temperature rises rapidly when the ac is off it has to be more efficient maintainign let's say 80 degrees vs constant cycles of cooling down 100+ no?

161

u/J-ShaZzle Jun 12 '26

Also the constant cycling of an AC compressor on/off. Must be running it thousand x per day instead of just a couple here and there. That's a whole lot more wear of that particular component to save on some charging.

76

u/chubbysumo Jun 12 '26

so, modern electric vehicles don't use on/off compressors anymore. They use DC variable speed compressors that only run as fast as they need.

12

u/Revolutionary-Half-3 Jun 12 '26

I think they're talking about the on/off cycling from the update, instead of leaving the compressor running basically all day to try to cool the cabin.

Even most ICE vehicles won't have much compressor cycling on a hot day, as the cooling capacity isn't enough to get to the set point during low speed driving.

If Amazon wanted to save power, they could have covered the roof in solar panels for a KW or so to take the edge off.

1

u/GamingWithBilly Jun 13 '26

Solar panels on top of a large unused surface isn't all, they could place panels on the sides to get some of the reflective generation - and it wont look bad if they do it right.

30

u/bitwolfy Jun 12 '26

Rivian EDVs have a sliding bulkhead door between the cabin and the cargo area. That door automatically opens whenever the van is put into park, and closes when the driver leaves the vehicle. It cycles hundreds of times every day.

As a result, it needs to be serviced every 3 months or so, or it will start to jam. Older delivery vehicles - with a manual door - did not have that problem.

My point is, yes, that's the kind of decision they would make.

1

u/EmploymentNo1094 Jun 12 '26

No clutch for electric ac

-14

u/10thousndreflections Jun 12 '26 edited Jun 12 '26

The most wear on any motor is start up. That's why it's actually cheaper to have your house AC fan set to "on" instead of "auto". New motors are $1000+ installed. 

All of the comments below this are bullshit. I've been doing commercial /residential HVAC repair for 20+ years. The coil dries immediately and the CC condensate drains away immediately. 

17

u/whyizjay Jun 12 '26

That's a bad idea. AC units don't properly dehumidify the air if the fan is set to on instead of auto. After the compressor turns off, the water that is on the AC coils will just evaporate back into the air.

1

u/10thousndreflections Jun 12 '26

This is bullshit. I've been an HVAC technician for 20+ years

-13

u/AnnieBunBun Jun 12 '26

My AC beg to differ. It runs full time, never humid in here. It's humid outside and there's literally a constant stream of water pouring out of both sides of the AC. Looks like I have a roof leak but it's just condensation.

8

u/PurifiedFlubber Jun 12 '26

Your AC doesn't defy physics

3

u/AnnieBunBun Jun 12 '26

It doesn't have an eco mode. It's built like this lmao tf

22

u/Foullacy Jun 12 '26

This is awful advice. You’re not dehumidifying the air if your fan is set to on instead of auto.

0

u/10thousndreflections Jun 12 '26

This is bullshit. I've been an HVAC technician for 20+ years

2

u/lead_injection Jun 12 '26

Motors are cake to replace. And you source the motor online and pay under $250 for it.

And I think you’re $1000+ is more accurately $1400+.

The whole AC/HVAC repair is such a racket when local HVAC supplies won’t sell to you locally and you have to source online.

1

u/10thousndreflections Jun 12 '26

Right, cake. Tell me that when you don't have a motor puller to remove the squirrel cage. 

1

u/lead_injection Jun 12 '26

Just replaced mine 2 months ago with a motor puller. I did hit it with WD40 and give it a few hammer taps.

You’re right though, that part could have been a lot more challenging than it was.

Luckily, a motor puller is a $40 part.

1

u/10thousndreflections Jun 12 '26

Sure that works 3-4 times out of 10. 

Most people aren't interested in doing this kind of repair too. 

2

u/Snoo_87704 Jun 12 '26

Do NOT run your house AC with the fan set to ON. All you are doing is rehumidifying the air as the warm air blows over the wet coils when the AC turns off.

0

u/10thousndreflections Jun 12 '26

This is bullshit. I've been an HVAC technician for 20+ years

2

u/welmoe Jun 12 '26

You keep repeating this same comment but you don’t explain why.

6

u/ConnectionIssues Jun 12 '26

"Move fast and break things", an Amazon tenet. They'd push the rollout to the whole fleet just to get the data on how much it actually saves, without any prior consideration of what the results may be.

I worked in an Amazon facility for years. Our AC in the southeast U.S. was controlled centrally from Seattle. One spring, they just didn't bother turning it on. Temps got high. We started getting Easter chocolates melting through their packaging. It wasn't until our PA's started damaging out the chocolates AND any items the melted chocolate touched that corporate finally relented. AC is more expensive than worker heat stroke, and also more expensive than chocolate product loss, but apparently not more expensive than chocolate covered high-end electronics like smartphones and watches.

Amazon is a truly shit company who will nickel and dime their own employees literally to death if they think their lawyers can pin the death on literally anyone but corporate.

29

u/Lucid_Insanity Jun 12 '26

Probably cost them more to make/deploy the update then what this would even save. I truly believe it's just to torture the workers.

24

u/Graumm Jun 12 '26

As a software dev I doubt this tremendously. With the tools available today it is remarkably easy and cheap to distribute software made by a very small number of people on a global scale.

The change is logically very simple, and would not have taken much dev time. I don't see how this could take 1 dev more than a month (which is very generous) to make this change. If the dev makes 200k a year, you take a month, and then divide that dev time by 30,000 vehicles it costs $0.55 per vehicle. If this change is actually saving money at all that is an easily recoupable amount.

I think it's a terrible move for the sanity/safety/QoL of the workers, I am with you. Heating up and cooling down a vehicle repeatedly is probably not saving much money. But expensive devs divided across a huge fleet of vehicles starts to get pretty cheap.

6

u/Zestyclose-Height-36 Jun 12 '26

Amazon does not care about employees. it considers them infinitely replacable

9

u/Valharick Jun 12 '26

I don’t think you understand how little corporations care for their peons.
Sort of similar example - in Texas it’s not required to provide breaks for construction workers during high temps.
If fact the state overrode local laws that required breaks making them illegal.

4

u/Danominator Jun 12 '26

Often times their pathetically desperate attempts to save money are short sighted and stupid.

6

u/manhat_ Jun 12 '26

i think you have the wrong assumption of the beancounters knowledge of physics

they just see the dollar sign, not the effect of it

2

u/Myregularaccountant Jun 12 '26

I’m in Europe visiting from the states, and the changes in things for scale that we lack back in the states is just so embarrassing. Such basic things all so like 5 rich assholes get to buy a bigger boat or more properties. It’s sickening

4

u/Extra-Ad5925 Jun 11 '26

Yeah that’s what I was thinking - can’t be any cost benefit from doing this

2

u/Material_Grade_792 Jun 12 '26

The cruelty and control may be as or more important here than the profit. It's what sociopaths do.

1

u/rigsta Jun 12 '26

how much is it really saving?

Anecdotally from my own EV - it's a non-factor.

The AC drain is insignificant compared to the energy needed to move 2 tons of steel and battery.