As part of its efforts to improve the sustainability of its operations, Amazon is rolling out 50 heavy-duty electric trucks across Southern California, its largest fleet of these vehicles so far.
The fully electric Class 8 Volvo VNR Electric trucks will be used for first-, middle- and last-mile operations, including hauling cargo containers and customer packages across the state. They are expected to travel more than one million miles each year with zero tailpipe emissions.
“We’re proud to launch our largest fleet of electric heavy-duty vehicles yet in California,” said Udit Madan, vice president of Worldwide Amazon Operations. “Heavy-duty trucking is a particularly difficult area to decarbonize, which makes us all the more excited to have these vehicles on the road today. We’ll use what we learn from deploying these vehicles as we continue to identify and invest in solutions to reduce emissions in our transportation network, and to impact sustainability in the trucking industry more broadly.”
Proven technology
The trucks have a range of up to 443km and are equipped with safety features including active collision mitigation, blind-spot detection, lane departure warning, lane-keeping assist and adaptive cruise control.
Keith Brandis, vice president of partnerships and system solutions at Volvo Group North America, commented, “Within Amazon’s operations the Volvo VNR Electric will provide zero-tailpipe-emissions transportation across a variety of different applications efficiently and sustainably. The Volvo VNR Electric was built on the already proven regional haul VNR platform, which makes it well suited for drayage and middle-mile operations, particularly in areas of dense population and moderate to heavy traffic volumes. We are thrilled to work with Amazon’s expansive fleet on their electromobility transition and help to pave the way for a more efficient and sustainable future.”
Zero-emission fleet
Amazon is investing heavily in growing its zero-emission fleet to help it achieve its goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2040. It has been using electric yard tractors since 2019 and now has over 140 moving trailers around its US sites.
The company launched its custom electric delivery vans from Rivian in 2022 and currently has more than 13,500 making deliveries across the USA.