Image: KT Raman Rao
Amazon has begun to deliver packages using cargo e-bikes as well as by walking in the UK for the first time in its quest to continues to make progress towards its climate targets. Amazon has launched the first center for micromobility in the centre of London. The company claims that bicycles and walkers will deliver more than a million deliveries per every year through the micromobility hub located in Hackney. The company claims that these journeys will replace thousands of van delivery.
From the start, electric bikes and on-foot couriers will be available for about a 10th the city’s ultra-low pollution zone (ULEZ). Electric vehicles and e-bikes are not subject to the London Congestion Charge and ULEZ charges, which means that Amazon as well as its partners for delivery will not be needing to pay these charges.
Amazon plans to expand its electronic cargo delivery hubs in the UK in the next few months. The company already has over 1,000 electric delivery vehicles that are in operation across the UK. In the last year the company included five electric vehicles in its UK fleet, to replace diesel-powered trucks.
It’s not the first time that Amazon has utilized cargo electronic bikes. Euronews mentions that they’re employed to deliver goods across five towns in France as well as seven metro regions in Germany. The company also uses electric bikes in Italy in Italy and Spain. In November of last year the company had completed the majority of deliveries in Paris by using e-bikes and electric vans, and couriers on foot.
In the Shipment Zero project, Amazon intends to provide 50 percent of its packages that have zero carbon emissions in 2030. The company plans to achieve net-zero carbon by 2040 , as an element of the Climate Pledge.
The company intends to operate completely on renewable energy in 2025. The company will set up more than 30,000 solar panels on its properties located in Manchester, Coalville, Haydock, Bristol and Milton Keynes towards the close this year. Amazon has 18 solar farms on site across the UK and is working to increase that number in 2024.