New Electric Amazon delivery trucks are now hitting the road in central New York, it's part of the e-commerce company's drive to go green.
Amazon calls it a soft launch. Thirty electric vehicles out of the East Syracuse delivery station started taking packages across central New York last week. Justin Besau has been behind the wheel of these new vehicles. He said they make his job a lot easier.
"It's a lot bigger to start with," Besau said. "It's got a lot of room. It can fit all the totes with no problem, all of the overflow with no problem. You can get in and out real easy. It's got the nice, non-slip floor."
These new vehicles look different from the usual Amazon van. They’re taller and longer, with more lighting in the back and front. Dmitry Kim, owner of one of Amazon’s Delivery partners, Parkland Logistics, said it sports the biggest windshield he’s ever seen.
"It's very, very good visibility," Kim said. "Again, centered for driver safety. Make sure you can clearly see where you're going. And then the front end here is, you know, there's no motor here because it's all electric. You're very close to the windshield. It feels like you're right in front of where you're going. So, you know, there's less chance for accidents and things happening on the road."
Amazon Spokesman Marc Heitzman said that the safety aspect of the vehicles is paramount.
“They were designed with safety in mind," Heitzman said. "For our drivers, they have 360-degree cameras in the vehicles. You'll see the increased lighting around the vehicles. There's a whole slew of safety features that were added to the vehicles by Rivian for Amazon for the purpose of being more safe for our drivers, but also for the community."
The vans are made for Amazon by Rivian, an American electric vehicle manufacturer. They charge overnight at the East Syracuse station, which has the capacity to charge 200 vehicles at a time. It’s the third launch of this kind of vehicle Upstate, the first in Central New York. The company has committed to having all electric delivery vehicles on the road by the year 2030.
