Amazon.com will invest more than 1 billion euros ($974.8 million) over the next five years in electric vans, trucks and low-emission package hubs across Europe.
The US-based retailer major said the investment in electric vehicles was aimed at focusing on innovation across the transportation industry. The investment will be encouraging public charging infrastructure for electric vehicles (EVs).
The online retailer said the investment would help its electric van fleet in Europe more than triple from 3,000 vehicles to more than 10,000 by 2025.
The e-commerce major did not reveal what percentage of its European last-mile delivery fleet is electric today. Amazon.com said those 3,000 zero-emission vans delivered over 100 million packages in 2021.
Amazon said it also hopes to purchase more than 1,500 electric heavy goods vehicles – used for middle-mile shipments to package hubs – in the coming years.
Logistics firms including package delivery companies United Parcel Service and FedEx have committed to buying large numbers of zero-emission electric vans and trucks.
A number of startups are racing to bring electric vans or trucks to market and are facing increasing competition from legacy manufacturers like General Motors and Ford Motor.
Amazon’s largest electric van order is for 100,000 vehicles from Rivian Automotive through 2025.
The company said that alongside EVs, it will invest in thousands of chargers at facilities across Europe.
The retailer said it will also invest in doubling its European network of micro-mobility hubs from more than 20 cities today.
Amazon has used those centrally located hubs to run new delivery methods including electric cargo bikes or on-foot deliveries to cut emissions.
Amazon.com plans to achieve net-zero carbon by 2040.