Amazon launches electric cargo bike deliveries with Glasgow micromobility hub

Amazon has started electric cargo bike deliveries in Glasgow after opening a new micromobility hub to further expand the company’s last mile delivery operations.

The new hub is part of a five-year, £300 million investment in the electrification and decarbonisation of the company’s UK transportation network.

Electric cargo bikes and walkers are now expected to make around 2.5 million deliveries to Amazon customers across the UK every year.

The online retail giant is expecting to make hundreds of thousands of deliveries across Glasgow by electric cargo bike over the next 12 months. These bikes will mean a reduction in Amazon’s traditional delivery van fleet, although the company did not state by how much.

Amazon’s electric cargo bikes and on-foot deliveries are now operational from hubs in more than 20 cities across the UK and Europe, with UK hubs in London and Manchester.

John Boumphrey, Amazon UK country manager, said: “We remain laser focused on reaching net zero carbon by 2040.

“The new hub in Glasgow will not only bring our Scottish customers more electric-powered deliveries, but also support the local authority in looking for ways to reduce congestion and find alternative transportation methods. We look forward to expanding our e-cargo bike fleet further in the months ahead.”

More than 1,000 electric delivery vans are already in Amazon’s operation on UK roads, in addition to nine fully electric heavy goods vehicles, the first in Amazon’s fleet, which have replaced traditional diesel trucks.

Earlier this year, Amazon announced that more than 300 custom electric vans from Rivian would be joining its delivery fleet in Germany.

The company aims to have 100,000 electric delivery vehicles from Rivian on the road globally by 2030, helping to save millions of metric tons of carbon per year.

Amazon UK renewable energy projects

Scotland is home to many of Amazon’s UK renewable energy projects, with windfarms at Beinn an Tuirc in Campbeltown, Argyll, and Kennoxhead (two phases) near Redshaw, South Lanarkshire.

In 2021, the first renewable energy project enabled by Amazon UK on the Kintyre Peninsula in Scotland became operational.

Amazon is purchasing 100% of the power output from this 50 MW wind farm, which is expected to deliver 168,000 MWh of clean energy annually – enough energy to power 46,000 UK homes.