For the first time, Amazon packages will also now be transported at scale on the UK’s electric rail network. In addition, the company has launched on-foot customer deliveries for the first time in central London, with trolleys that can be restocked while on-the-go.
These developments are intended to help take traditional diesel vans and trucks off the UK’s roads, reduce carbon emissions, alleviate traffic congestion, and improve air quality, and are part of Amazon’s Climate Pledge commitment to achieve net-zero carbon emissions across its operations by 2040.
“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 VP 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, all alongside our partners’ fleet of electric vans and e-cargo bikes, will help us move more customer orders across our fulfilment network with zero exhaust emissions. This is a win for our customers, the environment and our business.”
More than 140 new electric Mercedes-Benz Truck eActros 600 trucks (see the image below) and eight Volvo FM Battery Electric trucks are joining Amazon’s transportation network over the next 18 months as part of the UK’s largest-ever eHGV order, an increase from the nine eHGVs currently operating across Amazon’s transportation network.
The new eHGVs are expected to transport more than 300 million packages each year in the UK with no exhaust emissions 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 per cent in just over an hour. The new electric trucks will have a range of 310 miles (500 km) on full charge.
Around 20 of the Mercedes-Benz trucks will join Amazon’s transportation network following the company’s participation in the UK Government’s Zero Emission HGV and Infrastructure Demonstrator programme (ZEHID), with a proportion funded by the Department for Transport and coordinated in partnership with Innovate UK. Amazon has also added eight additional Volvo FM Battery Electric trucks as part of the programme.
For the first time in the UK, Amazon has also launched rail deliveries at scale. Amazon products will be loaded onto train carriages on the fully electric West Coast Main Line between Scotland and the Midlands and are then picked up from stations close to local Amazon delivery and fulfilment centres– ready for sorting and packing ahead of customer deliveries.
Products will also be 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.
More than 20 million products sold on Amazon are expected to travel on the UK’s electric rail network this year, avoiding traffic congestion and carbon emissions, with plans to expand across further rail routes before the end of the year.
“From the supply of the 7.5T Fuso eCanter in 2021, we are excited to continue to build on this electric journey with our partners at Amazon,” said Heiko Selzam, Managing Director of Daimler Truck UK. “This order of more than 140 eActros 600 for the UK signifies their understanding of the importance these trucks will have, as they drive to reach their net-zero carbon emissions targets.”
Amazon has also launched new on-foot deliveries across central London, with pilots developed in partnership with the London Boroughs of Hackney, Westminster and Islington.
Delivery associates will be making customer deliveries on foot with carts that can be restocked on-the-go from vans dotted around the capital. This will help Amazon make more zero-exhaust emission deliveries than ever before, with fewer motorised van trips. More than 70% of London’s Congestion Charge zone is now covered by electric vans, e-cargo bikes and on-foot deliveries, operated by Amazon’s partners.
The company is also expanding electric deliveries across UK city centres, with recent electric cargo bike launches in Belfast and Norwich, joining existing Amazon partner fleets in London, Manchester and Glasgow. To date, more than 500,000 Amazon customer delivery routes have changed from traditional fuel vehicles to zero-exhaust emission alternatives.
“Decarbonisation is one of the biggest challenges facing the logistics industry, as businesses seek to match the need to move away from a reliance on fossil fuels with pressures from customers to maximise delivery efficiency, said Michelle Gardner, Deputy Director, Policy, Logistics UK. “Currently, almost 90% of the UK’s freight is moved by road, so it is important that the sector considers alternatively fuelled vehicles and a shift to different transport modes in order to fulfil demand. Amazon is demonstrating the sector’s willingness to change and its commitment to reducing overall emissions.”
Amazon’s electric cargo bike deliveries are now operational from hubs in more than 45 cities across the UK and Europe, with recent additions in Belfast, Norwich, Madrid, Rome and Vienna joining London, Manchester, Glasgow, Paris, Milan and Munich.
