Amazon is deploying 50 battery-electric heavy-duty trucks in California, which it claims is the largest such fleet in the country. The company says the new trucks represent an important step in its mission to eliminate pollution from its global operations — even as its carbon emissions have spiked in recent years.
Amazon says the heavy-duty trucks are produced by Volvo VNR, a division of the Swedish automaker that makes Class 8 tractor trailers.
The trucks will be integrated into first-mile operations, in which goods are moved from container ships at the ports to fulfillment centers, as well as middle-mile operations, in which packages are transported from fulfillment centers to delivery centers. From there, the packages will be loaded into Amazon’s last-mile fleet, a portion of which are electric delivery vans produced by Rivian.