Amazon is deploying 50 battery-electric heavy-duty vans in California, which it claims is the most important such fleet within the nation. The corporate says the brand new vans symbolize an essential step in its mission to get rid of air pollution from its world operations — whilst its carbon emissions have spiked in recent years.
Amazon says the trucks will be integrated into first-mile operations, during which items are moved from container ships on the ports to success facilities, in addition to middle-mile operations, during which packages are transported from success facilities to supply facilities. From there, the packages can be loaded into Amazon’s last-mile fleet, a portion of that are electrical supply vans produced by Rivian.
The heavy-duty trucks are produced by Volvo VNR, a division of the Swedish automaker that makes Class 8 tractor trailers. Volvo makes a number of fashions with a spread of as much as 275 miles, 565kWh of battery capability, and a zero to 80 % charging time of 90 minutes. Towing capability can high 66,000 kilos, relying on the mannequin, with battery vary prone to be negatively impacted with extra weight to tow.
A few of the new vans will work as a part of Amazon’s drayage fleet, shifting items off-loaded from cargo ships on the Port of Los Angeles and Lengthy Seaside to its success middle in Santa Fe Springs, California. A dozen vans are anticipated to be put into service earlier than the tip of the 12 months.
For middle-mile companies, Amazon expects to deploy 35 electrical vans to ship items between the success facilities and a variety of totally different places, together with kind facilities, air amenities, and supply facilities. From there, the packages get picked up by Amazon’s supply vans for his or her last journeys.
“We’re proud to launch our largest fleet of electrical heavy-duty autos but in California,” mentioned Udit Madan, vp of worldwide Amazon operations, in a press release.
To make certain, the overwhelming majority of the vans and vans delivering your Amazon, FedEx, and UPS packages are powered by fossil fuels. A whole lot of corporations have plans to impress their fleets, however the precise variety of actual EVs on the street at the moment is minuscule.