Amazon is moving full speed ahead to electrify its European vehicle fleet. The delivery diva will invest a billion euros ($975 million) over the next five years in electric vans, trucks and low-emission package hubs in Europe.
Amazon said the plan is to expand its electric van fleet in Europe from the current 3,000 vehicles to over 10,000 by 2025, but didn’t say what percentage of its last-mile delivery fleet those figures represent.
The company also hopes to purchase some 1,500 heavy-duty electric trucks (such as the Tesla Semi, Freightliner eCascadia or Volvo VNR Electric) to move goods between ports and logistics centers.
Amazon didn’t say what brands of EVs it’s looking at, but it has ordered 100,000 electric delivery vans from Rivian, and a few of these have been spotted on the streets making deliveries. The retail leviathan has also ordered EVs from Mercedes, Lion Electric and Volvo.
In addition to purchasing new vehicles, the online octopus will deploy thousands of additional EV chargers at European facilities, and will double the size of its European network of “micro-mobility” hubs. Amazon currently makes deliveries via electric cargo bikes or on foot, using centrally located hubs in 20 European cities.