Amazon, DHL, IKEA committed to accelerating the use of electric vehicles

Amazon, AT&T, Clif Bar, Consumers Energy, DHL, Direct Energy, Genentech, IKEA North America, LeasePlan, Lime, and Siemens have come together under the umbrella of the sustainable-investing nonprofit company Ceres, to help accelerate the transition to electric vehicles in hopes of tackling the climate crisis. It supports companies in making and achieving bold commitments to fleet electrification. The Alliance also loosely aggregates corporate demand for EVs to expand the business case for the production of a more diverse array of EV models.

The climate crisis demands that we decarbonize transportation — the highest-emitting sector in the U.S. — and electric vehicles are an essential component of this transition,” said Ceres’ VP of Climate and Energy Sue Reid. “With companies controlling more than half the vehicles on the road in the U.S. today, they have a tremendous role to play in leading the transition to electric vehicles — both in terms of electrifying their own fleets and in leveraging their buying power to send a strong market signal to automakers and policymakers alike. The Corporate Electric Vehicle Alliance is where the rubber hits the road.”

Companies also have a clear economic incentive to electrify their fleets. Electric vehicles present significant benefits to companies, including cost savings on fuel and maintenance, reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, freedom from reliance on volatile oil and gas prices, improved driver safety, enhanced company reputation, and bolstered workforce recruitment and retention.

The collaboration has been established to work on the following tasks:   

• production of new and increased volumes of EV models,
• EV market growth and economies of scale,
• Adoption of supportive policies and the removal of policy barriers, 
• Peer-to-peer learning with regard to industry best practices. 

We have a commitment to use electric vehicles for all of our in-home furniture deliveries by 2025, and we know that we’ll need to collaborate with our partners to make it happen,” said Steven Moelk, Project Implementation Manager, Zero Emission Delivery, at IKEA Retail U.S. We’re excited to team up with like-minded companies and work together toward an improved electric vehicle market and supportive policies through the Corporate Electric Vehicle Alliance.”