Innovation of the Week is a series highlighting retail initiatives that have caught the eye of our team.
Every week, we will bring you new ideas and case studies across consumer, technology, sustainability, economy, policy and industry.
What is it?
Amazon has made the UK’s largest-ever order of electric heavy-goods vehicles (eHGVs) as it expands the amount of zero exhaust emission deliveries made in the country.
Over 140 new electric Mercedes-Benz trucks and eight Volvo FM Battery Electric trucks will be part of Amazon’s transportation network over the next 18 months.
The new eHGVs are forecast to transport over 300 million packages each year in the UK with no exhaust emissions once fully operational.
Fast charging infrastructures will be installed by Amazon across key UK sites, taking the 40-tonne Mercedes-Benz trucks from 20% to 80% in just over an hour.
The electric trucks are operated by Amazon’s carrier partners and will haul trailers with products and customer packages to and from its fulfilment centres, sort centres, and delivery stations.
Along with the new fleet of vehicles, Amazon is also transporting packages at scale on the UK’s electric rail network and launched on-foot customer deliveries in central London.
Why does it matter?
The announcement will help steer traditional diesel vans and trucks off the UK’s roads, reduce carbon emissions, limit traffic congestion and improve air quality while helping Amazon’s Climate Pledge commitment to achieve net-zero carbon emissions across operations by 2040.
The new rail deliveries mean Amazon products are loaded on carriages on the electric West Coast main line between Scotland and the Midlands where products are then picked up from stations ready for sorting and packing at local Amazon fulfilment centres.
The retailer said over 20 million products are expected to be transported on the UK’s electrical rail network this year, with plans to expand further rail routes and limit carbon emissions.
The on-foot pilot deliveries across Hackney, Westminster and Islington mean couriers are making deliveries on foot with carts that are restocked on the go from nearby vans, helping Amazon make “more zero-exhaust emission deliveries than ever before”.
Strategic implications
More than 500,000 Amazon customer delivery routes have changed from traditional fuel vehicles to zero exhaust emission alternatives.
It’s also made over 150 million deliveries via electric vans and cargo bikes in the UK since 2022. Journeys that would have otherwise been made by vans with traditional fuel.
Amazon said the latest announcement is a “major step” towards meeting its net-zero goals in 2040.
“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”
Nicola Fyfe, vice president of EU logistics at Amazon
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