Dive Brief:
- Amazon has begun rolling out 50 Volvo VNR Electric trucks in California, in what will be its largest deployment of heavy-duty electric vehicles, the company announced Tuesday.
- A dozen of the Class 8 vehicles are expected to join the company’s drayage operations at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach this year. The trucks have a range of 275 miles and a gross combination weight of 82,000 pounds, Amazon said.
- “We’re proud to launch our largest fleet of electric heavy-duty vehicles yet in California,” said Udit Madan, VP of Worldwide Amazon Operations, in the announcement. “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.”
Dive Insight:
Amazon’s EV truck deployment at the San Pedro Bay ports expands its efforts to reduce its carbon footprint as California prepares to require fleets to shift to zero-emissions vehicles in the coming years.
The trucks will join the 35 heavy-duty electric trucks Amazon has already deployed in the state, according to the announcement.
The online retail giant has hundreds of last-mile electric vans already delivering packages across the state, and it is taking steps to reduce air pollution elsewhere in its supply chains.
Amid that environmental shift, Volvo has benefited from federal funding. In 2021, the manufacturer won $21.7 million in grants to deploy trucks and build heavy-duty electric truck charging infrastructure from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Targeted Airshed Grant Program and the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
Under that federal assistance, the OEM sent 70 VNR Electric trucks to customers in the state at the time.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state is helping businesses make the case for such investments by setting some of the world’s most ambitious 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,” Newsom said in the announcement. “California’s climate action continues powering our economy and creating jobs.”
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly reported the date of the announcement. The news was announced Tuesday.
