From sea to shining sea, Amazon is serious about electrifying its delivery fleet – now, the company is taking that seriousness across the pond, announcing plans to deploy 50 of Mercedes-Benz’ new battery-electric eActros semi trucks before the end of 2026.
Amazon says the deployment of the big battery Benzes marks a “milestone” in the brand’s push to decarbonize and electrify its global transportation network. The first 26 of the trucks from its largest-ever order – more than 200 Mercedes eActros 600s – are now on the road.
“The handover of these vehicles is a milestone for the electrification of our transportation network,” explains Andreas Marschner, VP of Sustainable Operations at Amazon. “Electric solutions have already been widely used for some time in last-mile package delivery to customers. With the high-performance electric trucks from Mercedes-Benz Trucks, we can now make even longer transport routes between fulfillment centers and urban areas more sustainable. This is a true solution for the future.”
Making it work
Amazon is putting the eActros 600 and its 621 kWh battery packs to work on routes that will help make the most of the trucks’ 500 km range, moving goods between fulfillment centers and urban areas on so-called middle-mile routes.
That big battery sends electrons to Mercedes-Benz’s proprietary electric drive axles, which deliver 1.61 kWh / mile efficiency while rolling out at an average of 36 metric tons (~79,400 lbs.) combined vehicle weight – specs that rivals the theoretical efficiency claims of the Tesla Semi. Except in the real world. And in winter.
“The fact that Amazon relies on our vehicles underscores the confidence in our technology and also shows that the electrification of heavy-duty transport is increasingly becoming reality,” says Stina Fagerman, President of Mercedes-Benz Trucks’ Customer Region Europe. “Such partnerships are crucial to further accelerate the transformation of the transport industry.”
To help integrate the new electric trucks into its existing network, Amazon is installing hundreds of DC fast chargers throughout the region with enough power to charge the trucks’ batteries from 20% to 80% in just over one hour.
All in, Amazon is investing more than 1 billion euros in the further electrification and decarbonization of its transportation network in Europe, including more than 400 million euros dedicated to its operations in Germany that, according to an analysis by Frontier Economics commissioned, these investments are estimated to have supported over 35,000 jobs and contributed up to 3 billion euros to Germany’s economy.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Amazon.
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