Amazon orders 1,800 Mercedes-Benz electric vans for European deliveries as part of its climate change pledge

• Amazon has ordered 1,800 electric vans from Mercedes-Benz for its Euorpean deliveries.
• It is Mercedes-Benz's largest electric vehicle order so far.
• Amazon ordered 100,000 eletric vans from a US startup in 2019 after launching its carbon neutral pledge.

Amazon has ordered 1,800 electric vans from German manufacturer Mercedes-Benz to expand its European delivery fleet.

Drivers will begin using the vans before the end of 2020. More than 500 are for the UK, and 800 will go to Germany.

The online retailer has ordered 600 midsize eVitos and 1,200 larger eSprinters, Mercedes-Benz's newest electric commercial van. The smaller eVito vans will mainly be driven in inner cities.

It is Mercedes-Benz's largest electric vehicle order to date.

Amazon is growing its fleet of electric vans as part of its sustainability plans — it ordered 100,000 from US startup Rivian Automotive LLC in September 2019.

Amazon launched its climate pledge in 2019, which calls on signatories to become carbon neutral by 2040, 10 years before the Paris Agreement target. Mercedes-Benz joined the pledge on Friday, after previously promising to have a carbon neutral fleet by 2039 — by the end of 2020, it plans to have five fully-electric models and more than 20 plug-in hybrids.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said the vans are part of the company's "journey to build the most sustainable transportation fleet in the world."

Fabio Massimo Castaldo, vice president of the European Parliament, described the investment as a "strong and concrete sign of [Amazon's] commitment and alignment to EU priorities."

In July, Amazon announced that it would begin delivering groceries to some Amazon Prime members in the UK for free.