Amazon unveils 1st fleet of e-cargo bikes for sustainable deliveries in UK

With an aim to offer more sustainable deliveries, tech giant Amazon has launched its first UK micromobility hub in Central London.

The company claimed that e-cargo bikes and walkers from the new hub, along with Amazon's electric fleet already on London's roads, will make over five million deliveries a year across more than 10 per cent of London's Ultra Low Emission Zone.

"Our new e-cargo bikes, walkers and growing electric vehicle delivery fleet will help us make more zero-emission customer deliveries than ever before across London and the UK," John Boumphrey, UK Country Manager, Amazon, said in a statement.

Amazon has also unveiled plans to roll out large-scale solar panel installations at facilities based in Manchester, Coalville, Haydock, Bristol and Milton Keynes before the end of this year, to help power those facilities with renewable energy. Amazon said it will double the number of on-site solar energy projects in the UK by 2024.

These initiatives move the company closer to its Shipment Zero mission -- to deliver 50 per cent of Amazon shipments with net-zero carbon by 2030 -- and the ultimate goal of being net-zero carbon by 2040, 10 years ahead of the Paris Agreement.

Amazon has over 1,000 electric delivery vans on the road in the UK, and last year helped the company deliver more than 45 million packages. Its fleet of zero-emission vehicles will expand further as more e-cargo delivery hubs are expected to launch across the UK in the coming months.

Amazon also recently announced five new fully electric Heavy Goods Vehicles. These 37-tonne vehicles are among the first in the UK, the first in Amazon's fleet, and replace traditional diesel trucks.

--IANS

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