Amazon has published a new, open-source technology to help identify where charging points for electric heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) should be built.

Called Charging Location for Electric Trucks (CHALET), it allows fleet operators to input specific locations and routes for their fulfilment network, and specific factors such as vehicle battery, range, and transit time, before generating a list of optimum charger locations, ranked by priority.

Amazon developed CHALET over 18 months and is now open-sourcing the code so all industry stakeholders can benefit from the tool.

The map aims to help craft critical recommendations to industry and governments on targeted public charging infrastructure investments.

Andreas Marschner, vice president of Amazon Transportation Services, said: “Middle mile electrification in Europe will not scale until efficient and convenient charging infrastructure is put in place.

“Our teams have built an effective, science-based tool, and we’re open-sourcing the code to help all companies, big and small, make more strategic electrification decisions.”

Logistics UK welcomed the new technology. David Wells, chief executive of Logistics UK, said: “CHALET has the potential to enable the right planning and energy decisions by Government, and the investment needed to deliver zero carbon logistics at pace and in the most cost-effective way for logistics customers and the economy.

“Evidence from this tool should also inform important decisions regarding driver welfare facilities and rest stops.”

The Sustainable Freight Buyers Alliance (SFBA), which is an independent industry alliance of freight buyers, is using the tool to help create an industry-sourced map of charging infrastructure placement priorities, and calls on industry to participate by using CHALET.

The more transportation and logistics providers input their requirements into the tool, the better the map will reflect the industry’s needs, it says.

Rik Arends, director of the Sustainable Freight Buyers Alliance, Smart Freight Centre, said: “We’re calling on the industry to provide input to the tool to map the industry’s needs.

“Identifying locations to install charging infrastructure will play a key role in emissions reduction.”

All company-specific information is anonymised and kept confidential. To learn more, the open-sourced code can be found in GitHub, under the repository name chalet-charging-location-for-electric-trucks.

CHALET is the latest development in Amazon’s ongoing electrification efforts, with the company continuing to expand its zero emissions fleet, and support its efforts to become net-zero carbon by 2040.

In 2022, Amazon began rolling out its first fully electric 40-ton trucks in Europe and the UK. It also announced plans to invest more than €1 billion over the next five years to further electrify and decarbonise its transportation network across Europe.

The investment will more than double the size of Amazon’s European fleet, including more electric heavy goods vehicles, electric delivery vans, and the necessary charging infrastructure to support them.