Amazon is expanding its UK e-cargo bike fleet, with the launch of three further micromobility delivery hubs in Manchester and London.
Unveiled as part of a five-year £300 million investment in the electrification and decarbonisation of the company’s UK transportation network, e-cargo bikes and walkers are now expected to make more than two million deliveries a year.
These deliveries, says Amazon, will take traditional delivery vans off the nation’s roads, alleviate city centre traffic congestion and improve air quality.
“With more than €1 billion committed to electrifying and decarbonising our European transportation network over the next five years, including more than £300 million in the UK alone, we remain laser focused on reaching net carbon zero by 2040,” said John Boumphrey, UK country manager at Amazon.
“These new hubs will not only bring our customers more electric-powered deliveries, but also support local authorities looking for ways to reduce congestion and find alternative transportation methods. We look forward to expanding our e-cargo bike fleet further in the coming months.”
Amazon has opened these new hubs ahead of Black Friday to deliver to customers with reduced emissions deliveries during this busy shopping period.
The hubs join Amazon’s existing central London e-cargo bike fleet which was recently announced in July.
Amazon has already made more than five million deliveries so far in 2022 using its e-cargo bikes and electric van fleet within London’s ultra-low emission zone (ULEZ).
Making e-cargo bike deliveries to Manchester’s customers for the first time, Amazon’s electric delivery fleet will operate across the city of Manchester.
New delivery hubs based in London’s Wembley and Southwark will also more than triple the e-cargo bike fleet making deliveries to Amazon’s customers across the capital.
Amazon also this week announced further micromobility expansion plans across France and Italy.
E-cargo bikes and on-foot deliveries are now operational from hubs in more than 20 cities across Europe.
In addition to this delivery fleet expansion, Amazon is investing in thousands of chargers across its European facilities.
Decarbonisation and technology minister, Jesse Norman, said: “E-cargo bikes can play a vital role in reducing emissions, and that’s why we’ve already helped hundreds of firms to use them for deliveries.
“With ever more people buying goods online, it’s more important than ever that we move to greener alternatives, and today’s announcement is one step closer to achieving that goal.”
More than 1,000 electric delivery vans are already in operation on UK roads, in addition to five fully electric heavy goods vehicles – these 37-tonne vehicles are among the first in the UK, the first in Amazon’s fleet, and replace traditional diesel trucks.
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Gareth has more than 20 years’ experience as a journalist having started his career in local newspapers in the 1990s. Prior to joining Fleet News in 2008, he worked in the public sector as a media advisor and is currently news editor at Fleet News.
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