Amazon has announced its largest-ever order of electric heavy-goods vehicles (eHGVs), expanding its zero-exhaust emission deliveries in the UK, with packages now also set to be transported for the first time on the country’s electric rail network.

According to the tech giant, these developments will help take traditional diesel vans and trucks off the UK’s roads, reducing carbon emissions, alleviating traffic congestion, and improving air quality.

The company said the move to use more electric vehicles forms part of its Climate Pledge commitment, with the goal of reaching net-zero carbon emissions across its operations by 2040.

More than 140 new electric Mercedes-Benz Truck eActros 600 trucks, as well as eight Volvo FM Battery Electric trucks will now join the firm’s transportation system over the next 18 months, a significant increase on the nine eHGVs currently in use across Amazon’s network.

Amazon claims that these new eHGVs are expected to transport more than 300 million packages each year in the UK, with no exhaust emissions once fully operational.

To keep these EVs on the road, the company said it will also install additional fast charging infrastructure across key sites, including 360kW electric charging points capable of fuelling the 40-tonne Mercedes-Benz trucks from 20% to 80% in just over an hour. 

“This is a win for our customers, the environment and our business,” said Nicola Fyfe, EU VP of Amazon Logistics. 

“The combination of our – and the UK’s – biggest ever order of eHGVs, the UK’s electric rail network now being used to transport customer packages, and the launch of restocking on the move on-foot deliveries, all alongside our partners’ fleet of electric vans and e-cargo bikes, will help us move more customer orders across our fulfilment network with zero exhaust emissions.”

At the same time, the company said that more than 20 million products sold on Amazon are expected to travel on the UK’s electric rail network between Scotland and the Midlands this year, with plans to expand across further rail routes before the end of the year.

With electric cargo bike deliveries having recently been launched in Belfast and Norwich, the company is also planning to roll this out to fleets in London, Manchester and Glasgow, hoping to further reduce exhaust emissions in the switch away from traditional fuel vehicles.  

Lilian Greenwood, future of roads minister within the UK Department for Transport, said: “Business has a crucial role to play in decarbonising our roads, and that’s why it’s fantastic to see Amazon place the UK’s biggest ever order of electric trucks, supported in part by the Government’s £200m ‘Zero Emission HGV and Infrastructure Demonstrator’ project.

“This comes on top of our £2.3 billion to help industry and consumers switch to electric vehicles, supporting jobs, attracting investment and making Britain a clean energy superpower.”

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Last week, BT announced that it had also stepped up its net-zero efforts with the UK’s largest ever commercial electric vehicle fleet order. 

The order will mean, according to BT Group, that it has the largest fleet of EVs in the UK, with nearly 8,000 by the time the company’s latest EV order is complete in 2026.

Both Amazon and BT might be ahead of the curb, but many more firms will be forced to follow their lead. Last year, the UK Government set out an ambitious new mandate around the switch to electric vehicles, with 90% of new cars and 70% of new vans sold in Britain to be zero emission by 2030, rising to 100% by 2035.

Research from Gartner shows that by the end of 2025, 85 million EVs, including cars, buses, vans and heavy trucks, could be in use, however demand across Europe and North America is being outstripped by China, where almost fifty million EVs might be on the road this year.