In 2019, Amazon ordered 100,000 custom electric delivery vehicles from Rivian. We rolled out the first of these vehicles in Los Angeles in February 2021 and will expand to up to 15 additional U.S. cities by the end of the year. We plan to have 10,000 vehicles on the road as early as 2022 and all 100,000 vehicles deployed by 2030.
Electrifying Our Delivery Fleets
We are operating one of the fastest-growing modern commercial electrification programs, which is projected to save millions of metric tons of carbon per year once fully deployed.
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In 2020, we expanded our European electric delivery fleet with an order for 1,800 electric vans from Mercedes-Benz, a signatory of The Climate Pledge.
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In India, we are adding 10,000 electric vehicles to our existing fleet by 2025, including two-wheeler, three-wheeler, and four-wheeler vehicles designed and manufactured by local manufacturers. Hundreds of these vehicles are now on the road, operated by Amazon India’s network of Delivery Service Partners in more than 20 cities across the country.
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Building the Infrastructure to Support Our Vehicles and DriversAs we expand our electric delivery fleet worldwide, we are building the infrastructure to support our vehicles and drivers. We are retrofitting existing facilities with charging technology and adding thousands of charging stations across hundreds of facilities for our partners to use in North America and Europe. More than 50 Amazon delivery stations across North America and Europe are equipped for electric vehicle usage, and all new delivery stations are designed with the physical layout and electrical capacity to meet the needs of our current and future electric delivery fleets. These facilities will be able to support parking and charging at night and deliveries during the day, including same-day deliveries and deliveries to lockers and businesses. We are also partnering with publicly accessible charging networks to allow drivers to top off with clean electricity when traveling outside of our charging network.
Alternative Delivery Methods
We use a range of alternative delivery methods to increase efficiency and reduce emissions on last mile routes to our customers’ doorsteps.
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Micro-MobilityIn dense, urban centers like New York City, Paris, and Tokyo, we deliver packages by bicycle and on foot, using push walkers. Our bicycle fleet includes traditional bicycles and pedal-assist electric bikes connected to cargo trailers that can carry up to 45 packages. We operate more than 300 e-cargo bikes to make deliveries from Whole Foods Market locations to customers in Manhattan and Williamsburg, New York. In 2021, we are expanding our micro-mobility fleet across 20 European locations to comprise more than 500 vehicles, including e-cargo bikes, electric scooters, and walkers. -
Autonomous DeliveryWe are developing fully autonomous delivery innovations that can be powered by clean electricity. Amazon Scout and Prime Air drones are electrically-powered autonomous devices that can deliver packages to customers without the need for a delivery vehicle. These devices are currently being designed and tested to be able to transport small packages quickly, safely, and sustainably.
Testing New Solutions in Freight and Air Transport
Unlike last mile delivery, long-distance transport has few low-carbon technologies available. We are exploring, testing, and investing in sustainable innovations in freight and air transport to reduce emissions on our longest routes. We also use data and algorithms to consolidate as many shipments as possible onto a single vehicle or plane, and we analyze which items are ordered most frequently by location to minimize long-distance deliveries. By boosting efficiency across our network, we can put fewer vehicles and planes into service, reducing the carbon intensity of each package.
We are investing in a variety of solutions to decarbonize our freight transportation network. In 2020, we ordered battery electric trucks from Lion Electric, and in 2021, we began testing hydrogen-powered trucks. We also launched compressed natural gas (CNG) tractors, which are fueled by renewable natural gas sourced from landfills and dairy farms. We plan to operate more than 2,700 of these tractors in North America, the UK, Germany, and France by the end of 2021. These initial investments allow us to test the performance of different sustainable technologies and determine which solutions could be most effectively scaled across our network.
While we work to adopt the most efficient, cutting-edge vehicle technologies, we are also maximizing efficiency in our existing fleets. Across North America and Europe, our fleet includes trailers in different sizes that are equipped with aerodynamic skirts, mud flaps, and automatic tire inflation systems. These features save an average of 100 gallons of diesel fuel per vehicle annually. In the UK, we use double-deck trailers that allow us to double the capacity of a normal trailer and reduce the number of trucks on the road. We are also expanding multimodal transport to reduce the emissions from road travel. In Europe, we predominantly use rail for inventory transfers between fulfillment centers and have expanded to short trips by sea and waterways.
To reduce the carbon emissions of air transport, we are investing in sustainable aviation fuels, which are derived from renewable resources and generate fewer carbon emissions than standard aviation fuel does. In 2020, Amazon Air secured 6 million gallons of sustainable aviation fuel, signaling our demand for low-carbon aviation fuel alternatives. Since then, this fuel has been used to power the Amazon Air network in the U.S., reducing our carbon emissions in flight up to 20% over standard aviation fuel. Most of our aircraft also feature design innovations like winglets, which improve fuel efficiency by reducing drag. On the ground, we use cutting-edge electric equipment to service our planes, and we are working to equip air cargo facilities with rooftop solar panels, to generate on-site renewable energy.
We are also investing in emerging sustainable aviation technologies through The Climate Pledge Fund. ZeroAvia, a Climate Pledge Fund recipient, develops hydrogen-electric aviation solutions that progressively enable turbo-propeller aircraft to transport passenger or cargo payloads with zero carbon emissions. The Climate Pledge Fund is also investing in Infinium, a company that focuses on converting carbon dioxide and hydrogen feedstock into net-zero carbon fuels for use in today’s air transport, marine freight, and heavy truck fleets. With support from The Climate Pledge Fund, these solutions will help Amazon transition away from fossil fuels across our transportation network.
"Clean mobility powered by clean energy is an important element in the action to prevent climate change. The partnership between Amazon India and Mahindra Electric is a welcome step which reaffirms India’s significant progress in the e-mobility industry, and highlights the role of auto makers and e-commerce companies to achieve our environmental sustainability goals."
Shri Nitin Gadkari
Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India
Partnering with Experts and Industry
Transforming the transportation industry from one that uses fossil fuels to one based on clean energy requires cross-sector stakeholder engagement among vehicle manufacturers, battery and component suppliers, state and local policymakers, fleet operators, and utilities. Amazon is working with industry experts and organizations to advance sustainability through collaboration and innovation in the transportation and logistics industries.
In 2020, Amazon partnered with the nonprofit Ceres and other fleet operators to launch the Corporate Electric Vehicle Alliance, bringing together companies that work to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles. This alliance helps aggregate corporate demand for transportation electrification, while also providing a platform to coordinate support for policies that enable fleet electrification. In 2021, members of the alliance published a comprehensive report on ways that utilities, regulators, and policymakers can enable fleet operators to electrify commercial transportation and reduce carbon emissions.
In 2017, Amazon signed the Sustainable Fuel Buyers’ Principles developed by the nonprofit Business for Social Responsibility and its Future of Fuels working group. These principles provide a framework to catalyze the transition to a sustainable road freight transportation system. Amazon was one of 18 companies to sign the Buyer’s Principles, demonstrating our commitment to accelerate the transition to low-carbon commercial transportation solutions.
Partnerships
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Ceres Corporate Electric Vehicle AllianceIn 2020, Amazon partnered with Ceres and other fleet operators to launch the Corporate Electric Vehicle Alliance, bringing together companies that work to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles. This alliance helps aggregate corporate demand for transportation electrification, while also providing a platform to coordinate support for policies that enable fleet electrification. In 2021, members of the alliance published a comprehensive report on ways that utilities, regulators, and policymakers can enable fleet operators to electrify commercial transportation and reduce carbon emissions. -
Business for Social ResponsibilityAmazon is a member of the Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), an organization of sustainable business experts that works with its global network of leading companies to build a just and sustainable world. Amazon participates in BSR initiatives such as Future of Fuels (a collaboration with a mission to build demand and promote adoption of clean energy technology for trucking), Clean Cargo Working Group (an initiative to reduce the environmental impacts of global goods transportation), and Tech Against Trafficking (a coalition of technology companies collaborating with global experts to help eradicate human trafficking using technology).
