Commercial, Industrial, Sourcing Renewables  -  August 28, 2020

Mercedes-Benz sells electric vans for European Amazon deliveries

Mercedes-Benz announced Aug. 28 that they joined Amazon’s The Climate Pledge and received an order from Amazon for 1,800 electric vehicles to add to the retail giant’s delivery fleet in Europe.

This is the largest electric vehicle commitment for Mercedes-Benz Vans to date and coincides with the automaker's commitment to be net-zero across their businesses by 2040 through The Climate Pledge. Mercedes-Benz will be amping up their work on their previous emissions reduction program, “Ambition2039”, by evaluating ways to remove carbon from their entire value chain, from supplier and production to the electrification of products, as well as ensuring that renewable energy is used for their electric vehicles. They have previously announced a goal to have a carbon-neutral fleet of new cars in less than 20 years.

"I am delighted that we are further intensifying our long-standing partnership with Amazon and working together on the battery-electric future of transportation," Marcus Breitschwerdt, Head of Mercedes-Benz Vans, said in a statement. “With the eVito and the eSprinter, we have electric vehicles in our portfolio, which are ideally suited for the requirements of the courier-, express- and parcel-service industry for goods delivery on the so-called ‘last mile’ in terms of their equipment and range. They show that local emission-free driving, convincing performance, comfort and low operating costs can be combined perfectly.”

Amazon has also previously set a target to power their electric fleet with renewable energy and intends to run on 100% renewable energy by 2025.

“We welcome the bold leadership demonstrated by Mercedes-Benz by signing up to The Climate Pledge and committing to ambitious action to address climate change. We need continued innovation and partnership from auto manufacturers like Mercedes-Benz to decarbonize the transportation sector and tackle the climate crisis,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO. “Amazon is adding 1,800 electric delivery vehicles from Mercedes-Benz as part of our journey to build the most sustainable transportation fleet in the world, and we will be moving fast to get these vans on the road this year.”

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