Summary

Amazon has received the first 27 Mercedes-Benz eActros 600 battery-electric heavy trucks in Germany from an order of more than 200. More than 50 are planned for Amazon’s German transportation network by the end of 2026.

Amazon has moved from ordering the trucks to taking delivery of the first vehicles for its German middle-mile freight operations. Mercedes-Benz Trucks handed over the initial 27 eActros 600 trucks on 9 September 2026, according to an Amazon company announcement.

The vehicles will transport goods between fulfilment centres and urban areas. Amazon says more than 50 trucks of this type will be operating on German roads for its transportation network by the end of 2026.

Contents

What changed

The German deployment is part of an early-2025 order for more than 200 Mercedes-Benz eActros 600 battery-electric trucks. Amazon describes it as its largest-ever order of electric trucks.

The majority of that order is being deployed in the United Kingdom, where Mercedes-Benz Trucks began deliveries to Amazon in late 2025. The first 27 vehicles have now been handed over for the German network, while the wider order is expected to be distributed across Amazon’s European logistics operations.

This is a different use case from electric delivery vans serving the final leg to customers. The eActros 600 trucks are intended for middle-mile freight: the movement of goods between fixed logistics facilities and urban areas before packages reach local delivery networks.

A battery-electric truck uses electricity stored in a traction battery to power an electric drivetrain instead of an internal-combustion engine. During driving, it produces no tailpipe exhaust emissions. That does not, by itself, establish the vehicle’s full lifecycle greenhouse-gas impact, which also depends on factors such as electricity generation, manufacturing and battery production.

How the trucks fit Amazon’s freight network

Middle-mile routes are among the more structured parts of freight logistics. Trucks commonly travel between known sites on planned schedules, allowing operators to coordinate vehicle assignments and depot charging more easily than on irregular routes.

For Amazon, this means the trucks can potentially be integrated with fulfilment-centre and logistics-site operations rather than relying entirely on public charging infrastructure. The announcement does not identify the exact German sites, routes, payloads or daily mileage of the first 27 vehicles.

Mercedes-Benz Trucks describes the eActros 600 as a battery-electric truck developed for demanding long-haul transport. The model is manufactured in Wörth am Rhein, according to remarks cited in the announcement from Stina Fagerman, president of Mercedes-Benz Trucks Customer Region Europe.

Amazon says the electric heavy-truck programme is expected to transport more than 350 million packages per year. That is a company expectation rather than an independently measured operating result, and the announcement does not explain how the figure is allocated across countries, routes or vehicle deployments.

Charging and vehicle specifications

The eActros 600 is specified in the announcement with an installed battery capacity of 621 kilowatt-hours and a stated range of 500 kilometres. Amazon and Mercedes-Benz Trucks identify the battery capacity and an in-house-developed electric drive axle as important to the truck’s intended use.

The 500-kilometre figure is a vehicle specification, not a guarantee of the distance a loaded truck will cover in every situation. Actual energy consumption and range can vary with payload, speed, weather, terrain, traffic and the use of heating or other auxiliary systems.

Charging infrastructure is therefore a central part of the deployment. Amazon says it is installing hundreds of heavy-goods-vehicle chargers at European locations. It also says the trucks can charge from 20% to 80% in just over one hour.

That charging window could allow vehicles to be replenished during planned depot stops, but the announcement does not provide independently measured charging results or explain the operating conditions behind the stated time. Charger power, site electrical capacity, battery temperature and scheduling will all affect how easily a fleet can maintain its intended routes.

Amazon says it is investing more than €1 billion in further electrification and decarbonisation of its European transportation network, including more than €400 million for operations in Germany. It also says it has invested up to €4 billion in low-carbon technologies in Germany since 2021.

What to watch next

The immediate milestone is whether more than 50 eActros 600 trucks are operating in Germany by the end of 2026 as planned. More useful operational evidence would include their real-world range with freight loads, charging reliability, route coverage, maintenance and energy use.

The wider order will also show how Amazon and Mercedes-Benz Trucks scale heavy-duty electrification beyond the initial German vehicles. The programme requires coordination between truck supply, route planning, charging capacity and the electrical infrastructure at fulfilment and logistics sites.

If the planned deployment and charging expansion are achieved, battery-electric trucks could take on a larger share of scheduled European freight movements. The announcement, however, does not yet establish the long-term emissions or financial performance of that fleet.

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