Amazon will launch its first 20 electric heavy-duty vehicles in Germany by the end of the year. Our first electric heavy-duty vehicles in Germany represent an important milestone towards the electrification of the hard-to-eliminate “medium-haul” transport industry, the area of the freight industry that moves goods between warehouses. The vehicles bring Amazon one step closer to decarbonizing its fleet and becoming carbon-neutral by 2040, ten years ahead of the target set by the Paris Agreement.
Amazon is doing its utmost to reduce the carbon footprint of the German transport sector by replacing conventional heavy vehicles with zero-emission electric vehicles. The 20 electric vehicles are expected to cover more than a million kilometers on the road annually, running on electricity instead of diesel. The electric vehicles are manufactured by Volvo Trucks and will transport products from our sites in Dortmund and Düsseldorf.
Using the latest innovations in battery technology, the electric trucks will use 360kW charging points, capable of charging 40-ton trucks in less than two hours. Amazon has installed ten best-in-class fast chargers across its German locations.
“Amazon is committed to decarbonizing its fleet, and the middle mile is a particularly difficult segment to mitigate,” said Andreas Marschner, Vice President of Transportation Services Europe at Amazon. “That’s why welcoming these heavy-duty electric vehicles into our fleet is such a significant milestone. We operate one of the fastest-growing commercial transportation electrification programs, and we will continue to invest and innovate to decarbonize and deliver packages to customers with zero emissions.”
“Major players in the transportation sector play a very important role in leading the industry’s efforts to reduce its carbon footprint. So, I’m pleased that Amazon is moving to electric power with us for its heavy-duty transportation.”
Jessica Sandstrom
Senior Vice President Product Management at Volvo Trucks
“We need more trucks with alternative drive systems on German roads to make road freight transport more sustainable and to be able to comply with European requirements. Companies are interested in converting their fleets to clean drive systems. This is demonstrated by our support programme, through which we have already enabled the purchase of more than 1,200 vehicles with electric and hydrogen drive systems. This targeted support is part of our overall concept for climate-friendly commercial vehicles. This is the central roadmap for implementing climate protection measures in road freight transport by 2030, and we are relying on a package of measures that includes support and management of the development of alternative refuelling and charging infrastructure, and an appropriate regulatory framework. We can only achieve the tasks ahead of us through joint and targeted action by all stakeholders. That is why it is good that companies like Amazon as a user and Volvo as a manufacturer are working together to reduce CO2 emissions in road freight transport,” says Oliver Luksic, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of State for Digitalisation and Transport.
The electric delivery trucks join Amazon’s growing fleet of zero-emission vehicles. Amazon already has more than 1,200 electric delivery trucks on the road in Germany. Last year, Amazon delivered more than 40 million packages to customers’ doors in Germany using zero-emission electric trucks and electric cargo bikes, and that number will grow as Amazon continues to expand its zero-emission fleet.
The launch of its first heavy-duty electric vehicles in Germany is part of Amazon’s efforts to embed decarbonization strategies across its business. The company is on track to power its operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025, and in 2021 it reached 85%. This applies to all Amazon operations such as corporate offices, physical stores, and logistics facilities, including on-site charging points. Amazon now has more than 100 renewable energy projects across Europe and has just completed two large-scale solar projects on the roofs of its newest fulfillment centers in Hof-Gattendorf (Bavaria) and Kaiserslautern (Rhineland-Palatinate). The total capacity of the installations on the site is 7.7 megawatts, making them Amazon’s third and fourth largest rooftop solar sites in Europe connected to date. In addition, the company plans to increase the number of solar-powered facilities in Germany to a total of 14 sites by 2024. Once all 14 sites are operational, the rooftop solar portfolio is expected to produce enough energy to power the equivalent of more than 13,000 German homes each year. This is in addition to the company’s large-scale off-site renewable energy investments in Germany, including a 350 MW offshore wind farm in the North Sea that is expected to come online in 2025. Once operational, it is expected to produce enough energy to power the equivalent of more than 450,000 German homes each year.
Amazon co-founded The Climate Pledge in 2019, a commitment to become a carbon-neutral company by 2040. Amazon has phased out single-use plastic packaging at its German hubs and will continue to act boldly to address climate change and invest in solutions that help meet the company’s commitment to becoming a carbon-neutral company.
