Amazon has deployed more than 10,000 custom electric delivery vans across the United States as part of its commitment to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2040.
The company co-founded The Climate Pledge in 2019 and subsequently partnered with Rivian to design and produce 100,000 electric delivery vehicles by 2030.
Amazon began rolling out its electric delivery vans in the summer of 2022. The vans are now operational in over 1,800 U.S. cities, including major metropolitan areas like New York, Chicago, and San Francisco, according to an update shared this week.
Additionally, Amazon has expanded its electric van fleet to Europe, with more than 300 vans slated for deployment in Germany.
The custom electric vans are equipped with a range of safety and navigation features, including 360-degree visibility, sensor detection, and automatic emergency braking. The vans also feature embedded technology that integrates the delivery workflow, providing drivers with seamless access to routing and navigation.
To support its electric fleet, Amazon has installed over 12,000 chargers at more than 100 delivery stations across the U.S.
Beyond its partnership with Rivian, Amazon has tested more than 15 models of electric vehicles, including e-cargo bikes and e-rickshaws, in the U.S., the European Union, and India. The company has also invested in green hydrogen and ultra-low carbon electrofuels as alternative fuel methods.
Amazon plans to invest $200 million in safety technology across its transportation network in 2023. The company has also committed to investing more than 1 billion euros over the next five years to electrify and decarbonize its transportation network across Europe.
With these initiatives, Amazon aims to eliminate millions of metric tons of carbon per year and continues to innovate in packaging and recyclability, reducing per-shipment packaging weight by 41% since 2015.
While Rivian continues to attempt to ramp up production of its own all-electric truck and SUV models, it also is still churning out these delivery vans slowly for Amazon.
