International. Heavy-duty vehicles and other commercial vehicles account for around 36% of Germany's national transport emissions.
Volvo Trucks will deliver all-electric heavy trucks to Amazon in Germany by the end of the year. The 20 Volvo FH electric trucks are expected to travel more than 1 million kilometres by road a year, powered by electricity instead of diesel.
Heavy-duty vehicles and other commercial vehicles account for around 36% of Germany's domestic transport emissions, making the decarbonisation of road transport an important issue to address, Volvo says.
"Big players in the transportation business play a key role in leading the industry's efforts to reduce its carbon footprint. I am therefore pleased that Amazon is working with us to help reduce their emissions in longer and heavier transport allocations," said Jessica Sandström, Senior Vice President, Product Management, Volvo Trucks.
Volvo Trucks began series production of heavy-duty electric trucks in September this year and the availability of electric trucks for intercity and regional transport marks an important milestone for the decarbonisation of road transport.
"Globally, we now have six electric truck models ready to order and in series production to meet the growing demand for decarbonization of freight transportation. This is an encouraging step to reduce the impacts of climate change," Sandström added.
The electric versions of its most important product range, volvo FH, Volvo FM and Volvo FMX heavy trucks, will play a vital role in achieving Volvo Trucks' global target that by 2030 50% of all new trucks sold will be battery or electric cell fuel. These electric heavy trucks can operate with a total weight of 44 tons and the three models mentioned account for about two-thirds of the company's sales.
For Amazon, the trucks will replace their diesel counterparts and play a key role in electrification initiatives across its transportation chain.
"Amazon is committed to decarbonizing its fleet, and the middle mile has been a notoriously difficult sector to reduce," said Andreas Marschner, vice president of Transportation Services europe at Amazon.
"That's why welcoming these Volvo electric heavy vehicles to our fleet is such an important milestone. We are operating one of the fastest growing commercial transport electrification programs, and we will continue to invest and innovate to decarbonize and deliver packages to zero-emission customers."
