Amazon expands sustainable transportation efforts

Amazon.com is adding 1,800 electric vehicles from Mercedes-Benz to its delivery fleet in Europe, the company said today. The order marks the largest electric vehicle (EV) commitment for Mercedes-Benz Vans to date, the company also said.

The zero-emission vehicles will begin making deliveries to customers across Europe this year, saving thousands in metric tons of carbon emissions, according to both companies. The companies also announced that Mercedes-Benz has joined Amazon’s Climate Pledge, which calls on signatories to be net-zero carbon across their businesses by 2040, a decade ahead of the Paris Agreement goal of 2050. Amazon co-founded The Climate Pledge with climate change and environmental advocacy firm Global Optimism  last year.

Amazon said about 1,200 of the EVs are Mercedes-Benz’ newest model, the eSprinter, which is a larger model than its first zero-emission vehicle, the eVito. The eSprinter includes state-of-the-art safety features such as an electric parking brake, active brake assist, reverse camera, blind spot assist, and more, the company said. The remaining 600 vehicles will be the mid-sized eVito model.

The announcement follows sustainability news from trucking and logistics services provider Schneider this week. Schneider said Thursday it will field test battery-powered class 8 tractors as part of Daimler Trucks North America’s (DTNA) all-electric Freightliner Customer Experience (CX) Fleet.