Photo: Screenshot from YouTube video by Amazon News
Amazon will invest over a billion euros (about $970 million) over the next five years to electrify its delivery fleet in Europe. The company has decided to have net-zero carbon emissions by 2040. But, until then, it wants to double the number of EVs in its European fleet by having 10,000 electric vans and 1,500 electric heavy goods vehicles in service.
Currently, Amazon has over 3,000 electric vans that it uses to deliver packages to its European customers, and the plan is to take that fleet to 10,000 units by 2025. Now, do not imagine that all these vehicles are going to a single market or are being delivered at once.
Instead, the fleet will be divided into incremental expansions of existing mobility hubs in Europe. Amazon has them in over 20 cities on the continent and wants to double that part by the end of 2025. In other words, almost 20 new cities will get Amazon micromobility hubs in the next three years, and these will have new electric vehicles for delivery.
The investment will also lead to the acquisition of more e-cargo bikes, and even to support on-foot deliveries, which can make sense if the parcels have already been distributed in a way that makes the system work. Since Amazon is known for this aspect of its business, one should not be surprised to see Amazon employees on foot delivering small packages.
When you add the two together, the American company will have expanded its European network significantly in just three years. The expansion will require the installation of new charging points, as well as access to a charging network that is available across the continent, which will bring both new business opportunities for those companies, and more vehicles waiting to charge if the networks do not receive more charging stations.
In theory, the charging points installed at Amazon warehouses and mobility hubs should be enough to manage most of the requirements of the company's new electric fleet. As not everything goes according to plan every time, it will all depend on how long it will take to load up a van with cargo when compared to the process of charging its battery.
Amazon has already pledged to build “hundreds” of specialized fast chargers across its European facilities to allow its vehicles to be charged in approximately two hours, as the company has noted.
Instead, the fleet will be divided into incremental expansions of existing mobility hubs in Europe. Amazon has them in over 20 cities on the continent and wants to double that part by the end of 2025. In other words, almost 20 new cities will get Amazon micromobility hubs in the next three years, and these will have new electric vehicles for delivery.
The investment will also lead to the acquisition of more e-cargo bikes, and even to support on-foot deliveries, which can make sense if the parcels have already been distributed in a way that makes the system work. Since Amazon is known for this aspect of its business, one should not be surprised to see Amazon employees on foot delivering small packages.
When you add the two together, the American company will have expanded its European network significantly in just three years. The expansion will require the installation of new charging points, as well as access to a charging network that is available across the continent, which will bring both new business opportunities for those companies, and more vehicles waiting to charge if the networks do not receive more charging stations.
In theory, the charging points installed at Amazon warehouses and mobility hubs should be enough to manage most of the requirements of the company's new electric fleet. As not everything goes according to plan every time, it will all depend on how long it will take to load up a van with cargo when compared to the process of charging its battery.
Amazon has already pledged to build “hundreds” of specialized fast chargers across its European facilities to allow its vehicles to be charged in approximately two hours, as the company has noted.
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