Flipkart plans to replace 40 per cent of its delivery vehicles with EVs

Team OD Updated: July 01, 2019, 01:55 PM IST

Flipkart, e-commerce website plans to replace 40 per cent of its delivery vehicles with all-electric vehicles (EVs) in India by March 2020. 160 EVs will be developed by the end of 2019. That said, the company already has ten electric delivery vans in Delhi and eight in Hyderabad. 30 electric motorcycles are already plying in Banglore for delivery purpose.

"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 chief executive officer, Flipkart.

The electric last-mile delivery vehicles will help cut Flipkart's carbon emissions by over 50 per cent, the company added.

"The objective is to be 100 per cent EV," Amitesh Jha, senior vice president, Ekart and Marketplace, at Flipkart, said in an interview on Thursday. "These efforts will help us meaningfully contribute towards electric mobility while bringing cost efficiencies for the business. In this process, we also hope to create an ecosystem for the adoption of electric mobility in India," he further added.

With the recent introduction of all-electric two-wheelers in the market, a move like this could encourage buyers to adopt all-electric vehicles in India. Especially after the government announcing lower GST on commercial EVs could encourage other fleet owners for a similar adoption