Amazon UK adds e-cargo bikes, walkers in decarbonisation drive

LONDON (Reuters) – Amazon UK said it would expand its electric-cargo bike fleet and make more deliveries on foot to accelerate the decarbonisation of the transportation network it uses to deliver packages across the country.

The group, which has 75,000 permanent UK employees, said on Thursday that it would add two new small delivery hubs in London and open one in Manchester for the extra bikes and walkers, as part of a 300 million pound ($359 million) five-year investment in electrification and decarbonisation in Britain which was announced in October.

Amazon is targeting net-zero carbon by 2040 and said that the extra e-cargo bikes, a four-wheeled vehicle with handlebars and a container on the back, and the walkers would carry 2 million deliveries a year.

In 2021, Amazon delivered more than 45 million packages using its electric fleet. As well as the electric bikes, it already has 1,000 electric delivery vans and five fully electric heavy goods vehicles in its fleet.

“These new hubs will not only bring our customers more electric-powered deliveries, but also support local authorities looking for ways to reduce congestion and find alternative transportation methods,” Amazon’s UK country manager John Boumphrey said in a statement.

($1 = 0.8363 pounds)

(Reporting by Sarah Young; editing by James Davey)