Volvo Trucks took orders for electric heavy-duty trucks to retail giant Amazon in Germany at the end of the year. The 20 Volvo FH Electrics ordered by Amazon are expected to travel more than one million kilometers annually, using an electric powertrain.
36% of Germany’s domestic transport emissions come from heavy goods vehicles and other commercial vehicles. This makes the decarbonization of commercial vehicles an important issue to address.
“Big actors in the transport business play a key role in leading the industry’s efforts to lower its carbon footprint. Therefore I´m glad that Amazon is working with us to help reduce their emissions in longer and heavier transport assignments,” says Jessica Sandström, Senior Vice President of Product Management at Volvo Trucks.
In the last month, Volvo Trucks has started series production of duty electric trucks and the availability of electric trucks for intercity transport is critical to the decarbonization of road transport.
“Globally we now have six electric truck models ready to order and in series production to meet the increasing demand for decarbonizing goods transports. This is an encouraging step forward for reducing climate change impacts,” comments Jessica Sandström.
Electric versions of its most important product ranges – the heavy-duty trucks Volvo FH, Volvo FM and Volvo FMX – will play an important role in achieving Volvo Trucks’ global target that by 2030 50% of all new trucks sold will be battery or fuel cell electric. This electric heavy-duty truck can operate with a total weight of 44 tons and the three models mentioned represent about two thirds of the company’s sales.
For Amazon, trucks will replace diesel trucks and play a key role in electrification initiatives through its transport chain.
“Amazon is committed to decarbonizing its fleet, and the middle mile has become a notoriously difficult sector to reduce,” explains Andreas Marschner, Vice President of European Transport Services at Amazon. “That’s why welcoming these electric heavy goods vehicles from Volvo into our fleet is such an important milestone. We operate one of the fastest growing commercial transport electrification programs, and we will continue to invest and innovate to decarbonize and deliver packages to customers without emissions.”
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