Amazon to roll out first electric delivery vans in Europe

BERLIN - Amazon's new custom electric delivery vans will hit the road in Europe shortly, with the first vehicles rolling out in Germany, the company announced on Monday, reported German news agency (dpa).

The electric vans will roll out in Munich, Berlin and Dusseldorf first, Amazon said.

The e-commerce giant wants to have 100,000 electric delivery vehicles from Rivian on the road globally by 2030, helping to save millions of metric tonnes of carbon emissions per year.

The retail giant took a stake in the electric car company in 2019.

In the US, Rivian's delivery vans were introduced into Amazon's fleet last year, with more than 3,000 of the vehicles in use there.

Amazon has been testing deliveries with Rivian preproduction vehicles in Europe since last year. A shorter and narrower version of the van has now been developed for European cities, Rivian said.

Amazon announced last year it plans to invest more than €1 billion (US$1.09 billion) to electrify its European transportation network and reduce carbon emissions over the coming years, including more than €400 million in Germany. - Bernama