Amazon has placed an order for more than 140 new electric Mercedes-Benz Truck eActros 600 trucks and eight Volvo FM Battery Electric trucks to expand zero-exhaust emission deliveries. It is the UK’s largest-ever electric heavy vehicles (eHGV) order.
The trucks will join Amazon’s fleet over the next 18 months and are expected to transport more than 300 million packages each year with no exhaust emissions. The new electric trucks will haul trailers with products and packages to and from fulfilment centers, sort centers and delivery stations to customer doorsteps.
Around 20 of the Mercedes-Benz trucks and the eight Volvo FM Battery Electric trucks will join Amazon’s transportation network following the company’s participation in the UK Government’s Zero Emission HGV and Infrastructure Demonstrator (ZEHID) program, with a proportion funded by the Department for Transport and coordinated in partnership with Innovate UK.
To support the expanded fleet, Amazon will install additional fast charging infrastructure across key UK sites, including 360kW electric charging points capable of charging the 40-metric-ton Mercedes-Benz trucks from 20% to 80% in just over an hour. The new electric trucks will have a range of 310 miles (500km) on full charge.
Future of Roads Minister Lilian Greenwood said, “Business has a crucial role to play in decarbonizing our roads, and that’s why it’s fantastic to see Amazon place the UK’s biggest ever order of electric trucks, supported in part by the government’s £200m [US$244m] ‘Zero Emission HGV and Infrastructure Demonstrator’ project. This comes on top of our £2.3bn [US$2.8bn] to help industry and consumers switch to electric vehicles, supporting jobs, attracting investment and making Britain a clean energy superpower.”
Rail delivery
Amazon has also announced the launch of rail deliveries at scale in the UK, with products delivered via train carriages on the fully electric West Coast Main Line, which runs between Scotland and the Midlands. The products are picked from stations close to local Amazon delivery and fulfilment centers – ready for sorting and packing ahead of customer deliveries.
To further reduce on-road traffic, products are also transported from stations and Amazon’s wider fulfilment network to ferry ports while giving small and medium-size UK businesses easier access to European markets.
More than 20 million products sold on Amazon are expected to travel on the UK’s electric rail network this year, reducing traffic congestion and carbon emissions, with plans to expand across further rail routes before the end of the year.
On-foot and electric cargo bike deliveries
Amazon’s customers in central London can also now receive their orders through on-foot deliveries, brought to doorsteps with the help of carts that can be restocked on-the-go from vans dotted around the capital.
Developed in partnership with the London Boroughs of Hackney, Westminster and Islington, these new deliveries will help Amazon make more zero-exhaust emission deliveries than ever before, with fewer motorized van trips. More than 70% of London’s Congestion Charge zone is now covered by electric vans, e-cargo bikes and on-foot deliveries operated by Amazon’s partners.
“Decarbonizing our transport network is key in helping us achieve our goal to reach net-zero carbon emissions across our operations by 2040 and today’s announcement is an exciting and major step forward for us in this mission,” said Nicola Fyfe, EU VP of Amazon Logistics.
“The combination of our – and the UK’s – biggest ever order of eHGVs, the UK’s electric rail network now being used to transport customer packages, and the launch of restocking on the move on-foot deliveries, all alongside our partners’ fleet of electric vans and e-cargo bikes, will help us move more customer orders across our fulfilment network with zero exhaust emissions. This is a win for our customers, the environment and our business.”