Flipkart is moving its last-mile delivery fleet to electric vehicles
EKart, the logistics arm of e-commerce marketplace Flipkart said it will replace nearly 40% of its last-mile delivery van fleet with electric vehicles over the next nine months. The company is also setting up charging infrastructure at its hubs, and expects these initiatives to cut carbon emissions by over 50%.
“Our team is working with local ecosystem partners to help them co-design concepts for electric vehicles best suited for the growing e-commerce industry,” said Kalyan Krishnamurthy, group CEO, Flipkart. At present, Flipkart has deployed eight electric vans in Hyderabad, 10 in New Delhi and 30 e-bikes in Bangalore. Manufacturers building electric vans include Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors.
Ekart clocks about a million deliveries a day. According to Amitesh Jha, senior vice-president, Ekart and Marketplace at Flipkart, the move towards EV will also help bring in cost efficiencies for the business. “Electric freight mobility will play a key role in building a robust supply chain for the future and reduce our dependence on conventional power sources,” he said.
Startups Push For Electric Mobility
With the government aggressively pushing for the shift to EVs to bring down its oil imports and curb pollution, startups are actively working to drive the adoption of these vehicles. Ride-hailing app Ola has been lobbying in favour of the electric vehicle regulations including recommending the government to consider battery swapping and quick charge as appropriate technologies.
“India can leapfrog problems of pollution and energy security by moving to electric mobility, create millions of new jobs and economic opportunity, and lead the world,” Bhavish Aggarwal, co-founder and CEO, Ola said.
Separately, grocery retailer BigBasket uses electric vehicles for deliveries in Hyderabad and Delhi-NCR, and solar power in seven warehouses across Bangalore, Gurgaon and Chennai, VS Ramesh, founder, BigBasket told ET. Food delivery app Swiggy too delivers over 1.5 million orders a month on cycles.
In March, the government announced an outlay of Rs 10,000 crore for Phase two of the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles, or FAME 2 scheme, to boost electric mobility and increase the number of electric vehicles in commercial fleets.The outlay of ₹10,000 crore has been made for three years till 2022 for FAME 2 scheme.
