Bezos, Blue Origin crew ride in Rivian electric vehicle on their way to space launch

Whenever you’re about to rocket into space, you have to ride to the launch site in style. It’s just how these things work.And that’s what Jeff Bezos and crew did Tuesday as they headed to the Blue Origin rocket that took them into space for a few minutes.To make their way to the New Shepard launch ship, the soon-to-be space travelers first boarded a beholden-to-gravity electric vehicle made by start-up Rivian.Amazon, which Bezos founded and chairs after recently stepping down as CEO, invested in Rivian and ordered 100,000 electric vehicles from the company for shipping purposes.Volkswagen Passat discontinued: Another sedan is killed as cars give way to SUVsWho is Mark Bezos?: Brother of Jeff Bezos to join Amazon founder on Blue Origin trip to spaceElectric pickups: Tesla, GM, Ford, Rivian to release EV trucksTesla, General Motors, Ford and Rivian are among the automakers betting a truckload on their electric pickups.staff video, USA TODAYRivian has been developing multiple electric vehicles, including the R1T pickup and R1S SUV. Production and sales were set to begin this summer but were recently delayed until later this year.”Rivian has loaned several pre-production R1T pickups to the Blue Origin team to assist with launch-day transportation,” Rivian spokesperson Tanya Miller said Tuesday in an email.Bezos, his brother Mark Bezos, women-in-space advocate Mary Wallace “Wally” Funk, and Dutch teenager Oliver Daemen launched into space Tuesday morning, experiencing weightlessness for a few minutes before making their way back to earth.You can follow USA TODAY reporter Nathan Bomey on Twitter @NathanBomey and subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter here for personal finance tips and business news every Monday through Friday morning.


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