LOS ANGELES, May 7 (Reuters) – Amazon.com said on Tuesday the Volvo electric big rigs it plans to deploy this year to pick up cargo from the country’s busiest container port in Southern California The first of 12 machines was announced.
The e-commerce giant is already using eight of these semi-trucks at its Los Angeles/Long Beach port facility, where all so-called drayage trucks must be zero-emissions by 2035.
This deployment is a first for Amazon and extends its vehicle electrification project from ports to customers’ doorsteps. This work is essential to the company’s commitment to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2040.
So far, just over 1% of the 23,761 trucks serving the Los Angeles/Long Beach port facility are zero-emission vehicles, including 201 electric rigs, Port of Long Beach spokesperson Lee said.・Mr. Peterson stated.
“Large trucking is a particularly difficult sector to decarbonize,” said Udit Madan, Amazon’s vice president of worldwide operations.
Since 2022, the company has deployed more than 13,500 Rivian electric cargo delivery vans nationwide. The transition to electric semi-trucks will be an even bigger step forward, as semi-trucks carry heavier loads and batteries require a more centralized charging infrastructure.
“There is no strategy,” said Adam Baker, Amazon’s vice president of global logistics. The company is currently collecting data on battery performance to help determine how many trucks it needs.
Keith Brandis, vice president of partnerships and systems solutions for Volvo Trucks North America, said the manufacturer of Amazon’s electric drayage trucks will continue to work with the company and JAB Hunt, which provides the rig’s drivers, during the deployment. He said he would cooperate.
“Charging infrastructure is a long pole in a tent. We need to get it right,” Brandis said.
Ports, private companies and truck owners are racing to develop large chargers to support the transition to zero-emission vehicles.
In the near future, Amazon’s electric port trucks will charge at an off-site facility operated by Forum Mobility, a startup that counts Amazon’s Climate Pledge fund among its early investors.
Forum Mobility broke ground this week on a fast-charging hub at the Port of Long Beach that will be able to service 44 trucks simultaneously. Amazon is the site’s first customer, and it will be made available to other carriers, said Matt LeDuc, CEO of Forum Mobility.
