A total of 20 fully-electric Volvo heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) will be rolled out in Germany by the end of 2022, e-commerce company Amazon has announced.
The ‘eHGVs’, according to Amazon, represent an important landmark in the electrification of the middle-mile transportation industry, which is responsible for the transportation of cargo between warehouses.
The zero-emission eHGVs are expected to drive more than one million road kilometres annually, and are made by Volvo Trucks, the truck manufacturing division of automotive company Volvo.
The electric trucks will reportedly use 360kW electric chargepoints, which are designed to charge the 40-tonne trucks in less than two hours. The company claims to have installed 10 of these fast chargers around Germany.
Oliver Luksic, parliamentary state secretary to the federal minister for digital and transport in Germany, said: “We need more trucks with alternative drive systems on Germany’s roads to make road freight transport more sustainable and for us to comply with European requirements.
“Companies are interested in converting their fleets to clean drive systems.
“That is the central roadmap for implementing climate protection measures in road freight transport by 2030, and we are relying on a package of measures comprising support, management of the development of alternative refuelling and charging infrastructure, and an appropriate regulatory framework.
“That is why it is good when companies, such as Amazon as a user and Volvo as a manufacturer, work together to reduce CO2 emissions in road freight transport.”
Amazon also reports that it had more than 1,200 electric delivery vans on the road in Germany and that it completed 40 million deliveries using zero-emission vehicles in the country last year.
The launch of its first eHGVs in Germany is part of Amazon’s decarbonisation strategy to have its operations powered with 100% renewable energy by 2025. In 2021, it reportedly reached an 85% green energy milestone.
