The number of electric heavy goods vehicles in Amazon’s transportation network will grow from nine to more than 160 electric trucks in the UK as Amazon expands its zero-exhaust emission deliveries in the UK.

Along with its largest-ever order of electric heavy-goods vehicles (eHGVs), Amazon packages will also be transported at scale on the UK’s electric rail network, and 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.

The developments are designed to help reduce carbon emissions, alleviate traffic congestion, and improve air quality as part of Amazon’s Climate Pledge commitment to achieve net-zero carbon emissions across its operations by 2040.

More than 140 new electric Mercedes-Benz Truck eActros 600 trucks 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 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 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.

The company is 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.

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 are making customer deliveries on foot with carts that can be restocked on-the-go from vans dotted around the capital.

“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 per cent 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. Today’s announcement from Amazon demonstrates the sector’s willingness to change and its commitment to reducing overall emissions.”

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