Amazon wants to roll out heavy-duty electric trucks across Southern California.
Takeaway Points
- Amazon plans to roll out heavy-duty electric trucks across Southern California.
- The aim of the launch is to step up their work toward decarbonizing every step of delivery across the first, middle, and last mile.
- Amazon said that it has deployed 35 electric heavy-duty vehicles in Southern California and has installed over 45 direct current (DC) fast chargers across 11 sites to power the trucks.
Amazon’s electric heavy-duty vehicles
The e-commerce company Amazon said on Tuesday that it is rolling out heavy-duty electric trucks across Southern California, including Amazon’s first electric trucks in our ocean freight operations. Amazon said that the aim of the launch is to step up their work toward decarbonizing every step of delivery across first, middle, and last mile, and it’s rolling out nearly 50 heavy-duty electric trucks in the region.
Udit Madan, Vice President of Worldwide Amazon Operations, said that they are proud to launch their largest fleet of electric heavy-duty vehicles yet in California.
“We’re proud to launch our largest fleet of electric heavy-duty vehicles yet in California. Heavy-duty trucking is a particularly difficult area to decarbonize, which makes us all the more excited to have these vehicles on the road today. We’ll use what we learn from deploying these vehicles as we continue to identify and invest in solutions to reduce emissions in our transportation network, and to impact sustainability in the trucking industry more broadly,” Udit said.
Governor Gavin Newsom said that “California continues to lead the way in setting world-leading climate goals. No other state has created the kind of environment where Amazon and other businesses can lead on sustainability and take major steps forward like deploying this fleet of electric trucks. California’s climate action continues powering our economy and creating jobs.”
About the truck
The first mile, or global logistics, is where goods are moved from where they are manufactured, through customs, across oceans, into ports, and then into our fulfillment network, the report said.
The e-commerce company explained that its first-ever electric trucks in its ocean freight operations have started hitting the road at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, with a dozen expected by the end of the year. The electric drayage trucks transport containers from the ports to an Amazon facility in Santa Fe Springs, California, where items are prepared for the next leg in their journey middle mile.
Amazon said that it has deployed 35 electric heavy-duty vehicles in Southern California and has installed over 45 direct current (DC) fast chargers across 11 sites to power the trucks.
Amazon said that since 2010, it has created more than 153,000 full- and part-time jobs in California and invested more than $142 billion across the state, including infrastructure from fulfillment centers, Whole Foods Market locations, and two tech hubs. These investments have contributed an additional $135 billion to the California economy and support 311,000 indirect jobs, in addition to those the company has directly created—in fields like construction, logistics, retail, and professional services. Currently, more than 82,000 independent sellers in California—most of which are small and medium-sized businesses—are selling in Amazon’s store.
