LONDON (Reuters) Amazon UK said it would expand its electric-cargo bike fleet and make deliveries on the ground to rev the decarbonization of the transport network it uses to deliver packages across the country.
The group, 75,000 permanent UK employees, said on Thursday it adds two new small delivery hubs in London and opening one in Manchester for bikes and walkers a 300 million pounds, five-year investment, in electrification and decarbonization in Britain announced in October.
Amazon target net-zero carbon by 2040 and said that the extra e-cargo bikes, a four-wheeled vehicle with handlebars and a container on the back, and walkers would carry 2 million deliveries a year.
In 2021, Amazon had more than 45 million boxes using its electric fleet. As well as the electric bicycles, it already has 1,000 electric delivery vans and five completely electric heavy goods vehicles in its fleet.
These new hubs not bring our customers more electric-powered deliveries but also support local authorities looking for ways to ease congestion and see alternative transport methods, Amazon’s UK country manager John Boumphrey said in a statement.
Amazon is launching a fleet of e-cargo bikes and a team of on-foot delivery staff to replace thousands of van deliveries on London roads. With their caravan of electric delivery vans, Amazon will make more than five million zero-emission deliveries to customers yearly across more than 10% of the London Ultra Low Emissions Zone. Different Amazon member companies will operate the bikes, it is understood.
John Boumphrey, the UK government chief of Amazon, said to the Guardian Amazon is moving towards an international net-zero carbon future. One way we do that is by transforming our transportation networks. Our new e-cargo bikes, walkers, and developing electric car delivery caravan will help us make more zero-emission client deliveries across London and the UK in the future months.
E-cargo bikes directly replace thousands of traditional van trips on London roads and reduce traffic congestion. Significant progress in Amazon Shipment Zero mission to deliver 50% of Amazon shipments with net-zero carbon by 2030.
The supplier of the e-cargo bicycle is EAV. In December, EAV launched a cargo pedelec 2019, which expanded to include more advanced uses, such as a refrigeration unit. In 2020, the group revised its lineup with the 2Cubed with a larger load volume. The recent funding, led by Hong Kong H+ Partners, may help bring the solution to (a broader) market. Nigel Gordon-Stewart, EAV executive chairman, said, delighted to have worked closely with the team at H+ Partners on this funding round, which allows us to keep pace with the growth and demands of the cargo market and complete the development of our unique mid-mile urban van solution, LINCS.
The electric delivery fleet also operates across the City of Manchester and will include the launch of e-cargo bike deliveries to the city customers for the first time. New delivery hubs based in London Wembley and Southwark will also more than triple the e-cargo bike fleet making deliveries to Amazon customers across the capital.
Amazon also this week revealed other micromobility expansion plans across France and Italy. E-cargo bikes and on-foot deliveries are now operational from hubs in more than 20 cities across Europe. In addition to this delivery fleet expansion, Amazon invests in thousands of chargers across its European facilities.
More than €1 billion committed to electrifying and decarbonizing our European transportation network over the next five years, £300 million in the UK independently, we remain laser-focused on reaching net carbon zero by 2040, said John Boumphrey, UK Country Manager Amazon. These new hubs will bring our customers more electric-powered deliveries and support regional authorities investigating ways to reduce congestion and find alternative transportation methods. We glance ahead to growing our e-cargo bike fleet further in the coming months.
