Amazon investing $970M towards EV technology for European fleet

Amazon plans to invest more than $970 million into its effort to add electric vans, cargo bikes, and long-haul trucks to its fleet across Europe. Finding solutions that are eco-friendly and cost-effective both remain ambitious goals for the major retailer - and plans to have more than 10,000 EV delivery vans, a drastic rise from the 3,000 in use in Europe.

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Amazon wants its electric van fleet to increase from 3,000 to more than 10,000 by 2025. To keep up with the demand from this effort, the US company plans to install hundreds of fast chargers at its facilities, with each one able to charge an EV in two hours or less.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy had this to say: "Our transportation network is one of the most challenging areas of our business to decarbonize. Deploying thousands of electric vans, long-haul trucks and bikes will help us shift further away from traditional fossil fuels."

In addition to its driving hubs, Amazon's "micro-mobility hubs" - aimed at congested cities - allow for deliveries to be carried out by employees on foot or riding a bike. Amazon wants to reach 40 hubs by the end of 2025, though wants to ramp up that number through the end of the decade.

As part of the company's climate pledge, Amazon aims to reduce its net carbon emissions to zero, joining alongside many other major companies striving to become carbon neutral.

Earlier this year, Amazon's Rivian EV delivery vans took to the streets in major metropolitan areas that included Dallas, Phoenix, San Diego, Chicago, and Nashville. Since that date, there has been continued expansion throughout the US, with the e-commerce giant branching out to cover more of the continental US.

Automakers are in a rush to develop EVs of all kinds, including fervent dedication toward delivery vans.