Italian transport company IVECO, a subsidiary of CNH Industrial, has revealed it will be supplying a large fleet of 1,064 gas-powered vehicles to Amazon to aid in its European business as the effects of the post-pandemic world continue to see e-commerce boom.
The IVECO S-WAY gas-powered trucks will soon hit Europe's roads, carrying out Amazon deliveries. Credit: IVECO
The firm will be supplying the e-commerce giant its S-WAY compressed natural gas (CNG) trucks to be operated by its partners in Europe.
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Amazon has already received the first batch of 216 units with the remaining 848 expected to be delivered by mid-2022. These additional orders will also come equipped with the "IVECO Driver Pal", which the company refers to as an "onboard driving companion" that integrates features from the Amazon Alexa.
"Collaboration with global leaders like Amazon is a testament to the robust capability of our innovative products and our unyielding commitment to the industry objective of decarbonizing transport by 2050", IVECO CEO Gerrit Marx said in a statement.
"CNG truck powered by bio-methane can cut CO2 emissions by up to 95% from a well-to-wheel CO2 measuring approach, effectively contributing to the decarbonisation process.”
IVECO specialises in heavy vehicles powered through alternative, often low-carbon, fuels and supplies trucks to industrial partners on a global scale. Their vehicles still make use of combustion engines but are powered through alternative means, such as gas.
While this does not eliminate greenhouse gas emissions, gas-powered engines do emit less than those powered by petrol or diesel.
Marx sees combustion engines powered through alternative fuels as the "only viable" option to reduce emissions in the transport sector currently available at scale.
However, it is likely the recent electric vehicle boom seen during the pandemic - which is currently facing a blip owing to the ongoing semiconductor shortage - may soon displace low-carbon fuels in favour of net-zero power.
The company claims the trucks' 1052-litre gas engine is capable of a 620km (385 miles) journey before needing to refuel and asserts the tank is the largest available on the commercial CNG market.
Amazon experienced a boom during the pandemic as traditional retailers saw massively reduced demand and many went out of business.
Estimates suggest the company's profits more than tripled at the height of the crisis, which has likely facilitated a need for increased capacity.
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The firm has also pledged to be completely carbon-neutral by 2040, which will mean its huge fleets of trucks will need to make use of alternative fuels in order to gradually lower emissions over the coming decades.
Part of these plans includes halving shipping emissions by 50% by 2030 and having all operations powered through renewable energy by 2025.
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