Amazon is ordering 20 electric trucks from Volvo as part of its effort to electrify its large delivery and supply chain fleet. Back in 2019, Amazon announced a new initiative called “Climate Commitment. It’s a company-wide commitment to carbon neutrality, and as part of the new initiative, Amazon confirmed that it ordered 100,000 electric delivery trucks from Rivian, an electric vehicle startup that the retail giant invested heavily in before ordering.
You can now see the Rivian electric vans that Amazon operates across the U.S. Amazon has since ordered several other electric vehicles to speed up the transition of its fleet to electric vehicles.
Previously we reported on Amazon’s order for 1,800 electric vans made by Mercedes-Benz, in addition to the 10 electric trucks Amazon has purchased from Lion Electric. Now Amazon is expanding its fleet of heavy-duty electric trucks with an order for 20 Volvo FH electric vehicles. Volvo announced the news at a press conference today.
Volvo Trucks will supply all-electric heavy-duty trucks to Amazon Germany by the end of the year, and the 20 Volvo FH electric vehicles are expected to drive more than 1 million kilometers of road per year, fueled by electricity instead of diesel.
The Volvo FH Electric is a truck with a capacity of “up to 44 tons GCW” and a range of up to 300 km (186 miles).
Volvo shared some specifications of the electric truck.
Battery capacity: 540 kWh
Output power: 490 kW continuous power
The range is up to 300 km, but with an additional charge during a normal working day, for example during a lunch break, the Volvo FH electric truck can travel up to 500 km.
Commenting on the news, Jessica Sandström, Senior Vice President of Product Management at Volvo Trucks, said.
"Large companies in the transportation industry play a key role in leading the industry's efforts to reduce their carbon footprint. So I'm pleased that Amazon is partnering with us to help them reduce emissions in their longer and heavier transportation missions."
Andreas Marschner, vice president of shipping services at Amazon Europe, added.
"Amazon is committed to decarbonizing its fleet, and the middle ground has been a notoriously difficult sector to decarbonize. That's why welcoming these electric heavy-duty freight vehicles from Volvo into our fleet is an important milestone. We are operating one of the fastest growing commercial transportation electrification programs, and we will continue to invest and innovate to decarbonize and deliver zero-emission packages to our customers."
The 20 electric trucks are expected to be delivered to Amazon and put into service in Germany by the end of this year.
