Amazon has launched an open-source tool designed to help identify where charging points of electric heavy goods vehicles should be built.

The system dubbed Charging Location for Electric Trucks (CHALET), allows transport and logistics operators to determine the best routes and locations for their networks and takes into account issues including vehicle battery, range and transit time, Amazon said.

The company added that transportation accounts for around 22 per cent of the EU’s total greenhouse gas emissions and that electrification will cut transport emission. Despite the urgency of this issue, Amazon said that charging infrastructure is falling behind demand.

The company said CHALET will help local authorities, governments, and electricity networks identify the best locations for charging points and support the busiest cross-continent logistics routes.

Amazon added that the development of CHALET has been welcomed by transport groups such as Eurelectric which has encouraged their members to participate in contributing data to the tool.

All company specific-information contributed to the open-source tool will be anonymised and kept confidential.

Commenting on the news Andreas Marschner, vice president of Amazon transportation services said: “Middle-mile electrification in Europe will not scale until efficient and convenient charging infrastructure is put in place. Our teams have built an effective, science-based tool, and we’re open-sourcing the code to help all companies, big and small, make more strategic electrification decisions.”

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