Amazon investing close to $1 billion in European electric vehicles
Amazon is making a major effort to electrify and de-carbonize its transportation network across Europe.
The e-tailer plans to invest roughly $1 billion over the next five years to help drive innovation in zero-emission vehicles and encourage the deployment of public charging infrastructure in Europe, including more than $330 million in the U.K.
The company is already using thousands of zero-emission vehicles across its European operations, and through this investment the company intends to add thousands more, accelerating its progress as part of Amazon’s Climate Pledge to be net zero carbon across its entire business by 2040.
Amazon has more than 3,000 electric vans delivering packages to customers across Europe and, with this new investment, 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 located in Europe’s traditionally dense cities. These 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 are also designed to take traditional delivery vans off the road.
In addition to these new vans and micro-mobility hubs and vehicles, Amazon will also invest in thousands of EV chargers across its European facilities. The investment will allow the company and its partners to improve fleet charging hardware.
Amazon is also promoting electric heavy goods vehicle (eHGV) production so Amazon and others can more quickly transition away from diesel trucks. With the new investment, Amazon expects to purchase and roll out more than 1,500 eHGVs in its European fleet, including more than 700 in the U.K. in the coming years.
To power its eHGVs, Amazon will build hundreds of specialized fast chargers across its European facilities, allowing the company to charge the vehicles in approximately two hours.
“Our transportation network is one of the most challenging areas of our business to decarbonize, and to achieve net-zero carbon will require a substantial and sustained investment,” said Andy Jassy, Amazon CEO. “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.”
Amazon is on a path toward powering its operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025, and, in 2021, the company reached 85%. This applies to all Amazon operations such as data centers, 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. According to Amazon, it is the largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy globally. The company now has a total of 379 renewable energy projects across 21 countries globally, including 154 wind and solar farms and 225 rooftop solar projects, representing 18.5 GW of renewable energy capacity.