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. This will allow it to deliver packages to customers more sustainably and includes more than £300 million being invested in the UK.
The investment is also intended to drive innovation across the industry and encourage more public charging infrastructure, which will help enable the broader transportation industry to more quickly reduce emissions.
Andy Jassy, Amazon CEO, said: “To achieve net-zero carbon will require a substantial and sustained investment.“Our transportation network is one of the most challenging areas of our business to decarbonise and to achieve net-zero carbon will require a substantial and sustained investment.”
The company is already using thousands of zero-emission and electric vehicles (EVs) across its European operations. This investment will add thousands more, accelerating Amazon’s progress toward becoming net-zero carbon by 2040. This is 10 years ahead of the Paris Agreement.
Jassy added: “Deploying thousands of electric vans, long-haul trucks, and bikes will help us shift further away from traditional fossil fuels—and hopefully, further encourage transportation and automotive industries in Europe and around the world to continue scaling and innovating, as we will have to work together to reach our climate goals.
“We are committed to creating cleaner transport as we work to tackle the global challenge that is climate change.”
Amazon’s investment is intended to help spark innovation in zero-emission vehicles. Plus, it’s designed to encourage the deployment of public charging infrastructure, helping enable the entire logistics industry to reduce emissions for a greener cleaner future.
Anne-Marie Trevelyan, Transport Secretary, said: “We are committed to creating cleaner transport as we work to tackle the global challenge that is climate change. Significant investments like Amazon’s today will be vital to reducing emissions and meeting our net zero goals while supporting growth at the same time.
“By adding thousands of electric and zero emission vehicles to its fleet, Amazon is not only working to make their deliveries more sustainable but also stimulating innovation across industry in the drive to cleaner transport.”
More Sustainable Deliveries Across Europe
The investment will bring more electric delivery vans, e-cargo bikes and on-foot deliveries to cities across Europe. Amazon has more than 3,000 electric vans delivering packages to customers across Europe and, with the investment announced today, 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.
Scaling-Up Electric Heavy Goods Vehicles and Expanding Infrastructure
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. The company 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. This includes 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. These allow the company to charge the vehicles in approximately two hours.
Surpassing 100 Renewable Energy Projects in Europe
Amazon is on a path to powering its operations with 100 per cent renewable energy by 2025, and, in 2021, the company reached 85 per cent. This applies to all Amazon operations such as data centres, logistics facilities, physical stores, and corporate offices, including on-site charging points.
Amazon now has more than 100 renewable energy projects across Europe, including 30 on-site solar and off-site utility-scale solar or wind farm projects in the UK.
At the start of the year, Amazon announced a collaboration with Stellantis, a global mobility player with 14 brands including Vauxhall, Peugeot, Fiat, Citroën and Jeep, to introduce customer-centric connected experiences across millions of vehicles.
The agreements will transform the in-vehicle experience for millions of Stellantis customers and advance the mobility industry’s transition to a sustainable, software-defined future.
Stellantis will accelerate its shift to becoming a sustainable mobility tech company through this relationship, which involves Amazon Devices, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Amazon Last Mile.
