Page 47 - HW Oct 2022

Major retailers progress
towards battery-powered delivery
WITH WALMART’S LAST mile EV plans already covered in these pages, now we have more detail on plans from Amazon and IKEA to step even further away from the use of fossil-based energy sources in its logistics networks.
Amazon amps up US deliveries – From July, customers across the US began to see custom electric delivery vehicles made by Rivian (https://rivian.com/fleet) delivering their Amazon packages. The electric vehicles operate in Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City, Nashville, Phoenix, San Diego, Seattle, and St. Louis, with more than 100 other cities by the end of this year.
Promising no less than 100,000 Rivian electric delivery vehicles operating across the US by 2030, Amazon has been testing deliveries with preproduction vehicles since last year, delivering 430,000+ packages and accumulating over 90,000 miles.
The custom vehicles (see photo below) are made at Rivian’s factory in Illinois and feature sensor detection, highway and traffic assist technology, a large windshield to enhance driver visibility, automatic emergency breaking, adaptive cruise control, and collision warnings.
Plus, there’s embedded technology that fully integrates the delivery workflow with the vehicle, enabling seamless access to routing, navigation, driver support and more.
To complete the loop, Amazon has also added thousands of charging stations at its delivery stations across the US and will continue to invest in EV infrastructure.
Amazon’s European road to zero – Meanwhile in Europe, already using thousands of zero-emission vehicles across its European operations, the
online behemoth has also just expressed its further commitment to EVs by investing some €1 billion over the next five years to electrify and decarbonise its transportation network, delivering packages to customers more sustainably, including more than £300 million in the UK alone.
Amazon already has more than 3,000 electric vans delivering packages to customers across Europe and, with this additional investment, expects to grow its EV fleet to more than 10,000 vehicles by 2025.
It’s related that Amazon has also already launched “micromobility hubs” in more than 20 cities across Europe, including London, and expects to double that figure by the end of 2025.
Micromobility hubs are smaller, centrally-located delivery stations which enable Amazon to operate delivery methods like e-cargo bikes and on-foot deliveries, to take traditional delivery vans off the road.
Amazon also has plans for “electrofuel” – Meanwhile, Amazon has also signed an agreement with renewable fuels technology company Infinium (www.infiniumco.com), to the effect that from next year Amazon’s transportation fleet will begin to swap diesel fuel for ultra-low carbon electrofuel.
Infinium’s electrofuels are ultra-low carbon fuels that use carbon dioxide waste and renewable power from wind, solar or hydroelectric sources (see the process diagram above right) to create
a hydrogen-based alternative to fossil- based fuels and are claimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by upwards of 100% compared to traditional petroleum- based fuels.
Importantly, electrofuels are said
to be a “drop-in” or no-modification solution for any combustion engine or chemical manufacturing process and Amazon plans to use this fuel source in its Southern Californian middle mile fleet which moves orders from vendors and fulfillment centres to its network of sortation and delivery stations.
Infinium’s ultra-low carbon fuel can be
used to power unmodified cargo trucks, airplanes, and marine freight and the company will be building its first electrofuel production facility using renewable power- generated green hydrogen and some 18,000 tons of recycled carbon waste per year which would otherwise be released into the atmosphere.
global eyes
IKEA commits to EVs – With more than two million shipments annually, IKEA is committing to transition
to zero-emission electric trucks by 2040. Partnering with four globally recognised businesses – Unilever, JSW Steel, Maersk and DPD – IKEA has signed up to EV100+, a new transport leadership commitment to electrify fleets, launched by the international non-profit organisation The Climate Group.
The five companies have committed to transition their fleets of vehicles over 7.5 tonnes, known as medium- and heavy- duty vehicles (MHDVs), to zero-emission by 2040 in OECD markets, plus China and India.
At the same time, IKEA will install 200+ ultra-fast electric vehicle charging stations from Electrify America at 25 stores in 18 states this year, joining other retailers including Kroger and Save Mart, and aims to grow to 10,000 individual chargers at 1,800 charging stations across the US and Canada over the next four years.
MORE AT www.facebook.com/nzhardwarejournal
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022 | NZHJ 45