Amazon has announced its largest order of electric heavy-goods vehicles (eHGVs), having ordered more than 700 electric trucks that it will add to its fleet of delivery vehicles operating across the UK.
In adding these vehicles to its fleet, the e-commerce tech giant is aiming to reduce the number of diesel vans and trucks on UK roads, reduce carbon emissions, alleviate traffic congestion, and improve air quality. These goals will more broadly contribute to Amazon’s climate pledge commitment to achieve net-zero carbon emissions across its operations by 2040.
The order itself will add more than 140 new electric Mercedes-Benz Truck eActros 600 trucks, and eight Volvo FM Battery Electric trucks, to Amazon’s transportation network over the next 18 months – an increase from the nine eHGVs currently operating across the network. These new eHGVs are together expected to transport more than 300 million packages each year in the UK with no exhaust emissions once fully operational.
To support these vehicles, Amazon confirmed that it will install additional fast charging infrastructure across its key UK sites – including 360 kW electric charging points that can charge the Mercedes-Benz trucks from 20 to 80 per cent in just over an hour. A full charge will provide the new electric trucks with a range of 310 miles (500 km).
Of the more than 140 Mercedes-Benz trucks, 20 will join Amazon’s transportation network following its participation in the UK Government’s Zero Emission HGV and Infrastructure Demonstrator program (ZEHID), with a proportion funded by the Department for Transport and coordinated in partnership with Innovate UK. This program facilitated the addition of the order’s eight all-electric Volvo trucks.
The new electric trucks, which will be operated by Amazon’s carrier partners, will haul trailers with products and customer packages to and from Amazon’s fulfilment centers, sort centers, and delivery stations, from where packages will then be delivered to customers.
