Amazon announced it plans to invest more than $1 billion to electrify and decarbonize its transportation network across Europe over the coming years. The plans come as Amazon unveiled its largest-ever heavy-duty electric truck order, with more than 200 trucks to beEV added to its fleet in Europe.
According to Amazon, the new order forms part of the company’s Climate Pledge commitment to reach net zero carbon emissions across its operations by 2040. Under this initiative, Amazon has announced a series of initiatives aimed at decarbonizing transportation across its business, targeting areas including increasing fleet efficiency, expanding the use of low-carbon fuels, and scaling electric and alternative-fuel vehicles.
Under the new order, Amazon will receive more than 200 new eActros 600m electric heavy goods vehicles (eHGVs) from Mercedes-Benz Trucks from later this year.
The electric trucks will be deployed across high-mileage routes that make up Amazon’s middle-mile network in the UK and Germany, transporting trailers to and from fulfilment centers, sorting centers, and delivery stations, the company said. Combined, the zero-exhaust emission vehicles are expected to transport more than 350 million packages each year once fully operational.
This new order forms part of Amazon’s larger strategy to electrify and decarbonize transportation, with the company stating it has plans for more than €1 billion of investments across Europe to reduce carbon emissions associated with delivering packages to customers.
As of the end of 2024, there were 38 eHGVs in Amazon’s transportation network across Europe, and 50 electric heavy trucks in California.
In addition to eHGVs, Amazon and its delivery partners have more than 3,000 electric vans delivering packages to customers across Europe, with the number expected to grow to more than 10,000 vehicles across Europe by the end of 2025.
Andreas Marschner, Vice President of Amazon Worldwide Operations Sustainability, said:
“This order of more than 200 electric trucks underlines our commitment to being a leader in electrifying heavy goods transportation in Europe. It is the biggest electric heavy truck order by Amazon to date anywhere in the world, and is an important step as we work to achieve our Climate Pledge commitment to reach net-zero carbon emissions across our operations by 2040.”
The Mercedes eActros 600 is the flagship long-haul e-truck from Mercedes-Benz Trucks. It offers an installed battery capacity of more than 600 kilowatt hours and a range of 500 kilometers without recharge. Mercedes-Benz Trucks recently started production of the eActros 600 at its plant in Wörth, Germany.
Karin Rådström, Chairwoman of the Board of Management of Daimler Truck AG, said:
“We are very pleased that Amazon, a pioneer in the transformation towards alternative drives, has chosen the eActros 600, a gamechanger for sustainable transportation.”
To ensure that the vehicles will be fully deployable, Amazon said it will install 360kW electric charging points at key sites, capable of charging the battery of the 40-ton trucks from 20 to 80 percent in just over an hour. Heavy vehicle charging infrastructure is a critical step to bringing more electric heavy goods vehicles to European roads, Amazon said, noting that developing a network for vehicles carrying heavy loads long distances was a challenge.
In addition, Amazon said it had begun for the first time to use the UK’s electric rail network to transport packages at scale in that country, and that it is launching new on-foot customer deliveries across London, with associates using carts that can be restocked on-the-go from vans dotted around the capital.