Amazon.com Inc announced on Monday that it will invest more than one billion euros ($97.8 million) over the next five years in electric cars, trucks, and low-emission packaging centers across Europe, accelerating its efforts to reduce carbon emissions.
The company said the investment was also aimed at encouraging innovation in the transport industry and increasing public charging infrastructure for electric vehicles (EV). The US online retailer said the investment will help it more than triple its fleet of electric cars in Europe, going from 3,000 to more than 10,000 vehicles by 2025.
The company did not say what percentage of its European last-mile delivery fleet is electric today, but said the 3,000 zero-emission vans will deliver more than 100 million packages in 2021. Amazon also said it expects to buy more than 1,500 electric heavy-duty trucks to be used for “medium-haul” shipments to package centres in the coming years.
While several major logistics companies—including package delivery companies like United Parcel Service Inc. and FedEx Corp.—have committed to buying large quantities of zero-emission electric vans and trucks, there are still not many to buy.
Several startups are racing to bring electric vans or trucks to market, facing increasing competition from legacy manufacturers such as General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. Amazon’s largest electric vehicle order is 100,000 vehicles from Rivian Automotive Inc. until 2025.
The company announced that it will invest in thousands of chargers across Europe in addition to electric cars. The retailer also announced today that it is investing in doubling its European network of micro-mobility centers in more than 20 cities. Amazon has used these central hubs to introduce new delivery methods, including electric cargo bikes or bicycles, to reduce emissions.
The company plans to achieve net zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2021.Source: Reuters