Amazon signs biggest UK electric truck deal

The order comprises more than 140 new electric Mercedes-Benz Truck eActros 600 trucks and eight Volvo FM zero-emission lorries.

An increase from the nine eHGVs currently operating across Amazon’s transportation fleet, the new eHGVs are expected to transport more than 300 million packages each year in the UK once fully operational.

The company will also install additional fast charging infrastructure across key UK sites, including 360kW electric charging points capable of charging the 40-tonne Mercedes-Benz Truck eActros 600 trucks from 20% to 80% in just over an hour.

The new electric trucks, operated by Amazon’s carrier partners, will haul trailers with products and customer packages to and from Amazon’s fulfilment centres, sort centres and finally delivery stations, from where packages are delivered to customers’ doorsteps. For the first time in the UK, Amazon has also launched rail deliveries at scale.

Amazon products are loaded onto train carriages on the fully electric West Coast Main Line between Scotland and the Midlands. Products are then picked up from stations close to local Amazon delivery and fulfilment centres– ready for sorting and packing ahead of customer deliveries.

Products are also transported from stations and Amazon’s wider fulfilment network to ferry ports, to further reduce on-road traffic, while giving small and medium sized UK businesses easier access to European markets.

“Decarbonising our transport network is key in helping us achieve our goal to reach net-zero carbon emissions across our operations by 2040 and today’s announcement is an exciting and major step forward for us in this mission,” said Nicola Fyfe, EU vice-president of Amazon Logistics.

“The combination of our – and the UK’s – biggest ever order of eHGVs, the UK’s electric rail network now being used to transport customer packages and the launch of restocking on the move on-foot deliveries will help us move more customer orders across our fulfilment network with zero exhaust emissions.”

Advertisement