Amazon to invest more than €1bn to electrify its fleet
Amazon has announced plans to invest more than €1 billion over the next five years to further electrify and decarbonise its transportation network across Europe, including more than £300 million in the UK.
The investment will bring more electric delivery vans, e-cargo bikes and on-foot deliveries to cities across Europe, and will accelerate Amazon’s progress toward becoming net-zero carbon by 2040. Amazon has more than 3,000 electric vans delivering packages to customers across Europe and, with the investment announced, expects to grow its fleet to more than 10,000 by 2025. Amazon has launched micromobility hubs in more than 20 cities across Europe, including London, and expects to double that figure by the end of 2025. Micromobility hubs are smaller, centrally-located delivery stations. In Europe’s traditionally dense cities, the hubs enable Amazon to operate new delivery methods, such as e-cargo bikes and on-foot deliveries, to bring packages to customers more sustainably. Micromobility hubs take traditional delivery vans off the road, which alleviates traffic congestion in city centres and improves air quality. In addition to these new vans and micro-mobility hubs and vehicles, Amazon will also invest in thousands of chargers across its European facilities. The investment will allow the company and its partners to improve fleet charging hardware. Long haul transportation is a hard-to-decarbonise sector due to the size and weight of the trucks and trailers, and the long distances they need to travel. Electric heavy goods vehicles (eHGVs) are a promising technology, but eHGV production and charging infrastructure availability are limited. Amazon today has five eHGVs on the road in the UK, and will have 20 on the road in Germany by the end of this year. Amazon is using its size and scale to help spark the scaling of eHGV production so Amazon and others can more quickly transition away from diesel trucks. With the investment announced today, Amazon expects to purchase and roll out more than 1,500 eHGVs in its European fleet, including more than 700 in the UK in the coming years.
To power its eHGVs, Amazon will build hundreds of specialised fast chargers across its European facilities, allowing the company to charge the vehicles in approximately two hours.