Amazon has announced it will be testing its new electric delivery vehicle on Bay Area routes, with deliveries initially being conducted from Amazon’s delivery station in Richmond.
The van can drive up to 150 miles on a single charge. San Francisco is one of 16 U.S. cities where Amazon will be using the van for customer deliveries in 2021. The Bay Area launch of the van follows a similar launch in Los Angeles last month. Amazon plans to operate 10,000 of these vehicles as early as next year.
The rollout comes one year after the online retail giant announced the purchase of 100,000 custom electric delivery vehicles as part of The Climate Pledge.
“Amazon currently operates thousands of electric vehicles worldwide, and is re-designing its delivery stations to service electric vehicles – ranging from the electrical design to the physical layout,” the company stated. “Last year alone, Amazon delivered more than 20 million packages to customers in electric delivery vehicles across North America and Europe.”
Richmond Mayor Tom Butt praised the move by Amazon.
“Richmond is a regional and state leader for climate action, including the creation of green jobs and infrastructure, the implementation of a robust climate action plan, the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2016 and much more,” Mayor Butt said. “It’s fitting that Amazon’s new electric delivery vehicles are being rolled out in the Bay Area from Richmond, and I congratulate the company for making this important advancement in reducing carbon emissions from commercial vehicles.”
Amazon plans to launch deliveries from other sites in the Bay Area soon. The company also recently invested $200 million to purchase a site in San Francisco for a new delivery station, located at 900 7th St.
