E-commerce company Flipkart reported that it had more than 10,000 EVs in its fleet as part of its gradual transition to EVs for last-mile delivery.
The company announced that, as part of the Climate Group’s EV100 program, it will transition to a completely electric logistics last-mile fleet by 2030. Currently, Tier-I cities like Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Chennai are home to 75% of Flipkart’s electric fleet. Flipkart revealed in August that EVs were completing more than 55% of their grocery orders.
Additionally, it used its electric vehicle fleet to deliver more than sixteen percent of groceries to Tier-2+ cities, such as Lucknow, Sonipat, Ludhiana, Bhubaneswar, Malda, Hubli, and Vizag, during the holiday season this year. Significant operational efficiencies have been achieved as a result of the strategic use of EVs. In comparison to traditional delivery trucks, it has reduced the cost per order at the hub level and increased the last-mile delivery speed by 20%.
Flipkart Delivery fleet has introduced EV
Hemant Badri, SVP, group head of Supply Chain, Customer Experience, and Re-commerce Business at Flipkart Group, stated, “We are not only driving operational excellence but also setting a benchmark for sustainable practices in the industry at large by pairing our expanded EV fleet with critical investments in charging infrastructure.” In order to promote broader EV adoption, the company has teamed up with the Adani Group to set up 38 specific charging locations, totaling 190 chargers throughout important Tier-2 cities. Additional public infrastructure improvements are also planned.
In order to improve supply chain operations and grow the integration of electric cars, Flipkart has also implemented a Last-Mile Aggregator model in Karnataka, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu, working with fleet operators that prioritize EVs. “We are well-positioned to achieve a 100% last-mile electric fleet by 2030 through our strategic partnership with the Climate Group’s EV100 initiative and collaborations with leading OEMs, EV service providers, charging infrastructure partners, financing bodies, and manpower sourcing agencies,” stated Nishant Gupta, head of Sustainability at Flipkart.
In an effort to reach its goal of having 10,000 electric vehicles for last-mile deliveries by 2025, another e-commerce company, Amazon India, recently announced that it has partnered strategically with electric mobility company Gentari for its EV deployment initiative.
