Amazon under fire after allegedly charging electric vehicles with diesel generators

Amazon has apparently been caught using diesel generators to charge its electric delivery vans.

On April 18, the account Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) shared a video on X with no sound and no indication of where or when it was filmed. The clip seemed to show several Amazon-branded electric vans plugged into giant green generators.

Amazon is using large Sunbelt Rentals Generators to charge their electric delivery vehicles

These generators are powered by diesel fuel

So they're using diesel fuel, to charge their electric vehicles "to Go Green"

Someone make it make sense pic.twitter.com/07A2XKOott

— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) April 18, 2026

"Amazon is using large Sunbelt Rentals Generators to charge their electric delivery vehicles," the post began.

"So they're using diesel fuel to charge their electric vehicles 'to Go Green,'" it continued. "Someone make it make sense."

Without details about the who, what, when, and where of the clip, the viral video was the only information about that particular alleged instance of Amazon using what the original poster said were "Sunbelt Rentals Generators" to charge electric delivery vehicles.

Iterations of the clip appeared on Facebook, where one commenter speculated that the diesel generators may have been in "temporary" use.

"Maybe Amazon introduced their electric fleet before the recharging infrastructure was installed," the commenter continued, adding that the setup made little sense otherwise, given Amazon's massive investment in EVs.

However, on April 16, a different short clip that appeared to show diesel generators being used to charge electric Amazon delivery vans appeared on Reddit's Amazon DSP Drivers forum.

"My DSP has 12 of these big diesel generators to charge some of the EVs — what I don't get is how this makes any sense? … We have a ton of chargers that come out of the ground, so why are they doing this?" the poster asked.

The thread's top comment accused the company of "greenwashing," a broad term for when corporations feign eco-friendliness to market to customers or deceive investors.

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"Lol Amazon is such a greenwashing POS company," the comment read. 

Another user suggested that the generators may have been a stopgap measure.

"The chargers are probably down due to construction nearby or a weather event," the commenter wrote. 

Ultimately, the viral video that seemed to show Amazon's EVs hooked up to diesel generators wasn't the first instance of its type. A photograph with a similar description was shared on a "climate skeptics" subreddit back in January 2025.

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