Under ‘EV100’ Flipkart delivery vehicles to go 100% electric

Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart has announced that it plans to use only electric vehicles by 2030. Under a new ‘EV100’ initiative, the company will transition to electric vehicles completely this decade.

Flipkart says that its entire logistics fleet will operate only with electric vehicles by 2030. A step like this one would make EVs the new normal in the commercial auto industry. The company sees itself making a contribution to the Indian government’s ambitious goal of seeing electric vehicles having a 30% contribution in the country’s annual vehicle sales by 2030.

Flipkart will start using electric vehicles in its logistics in a phased manner. The company’s electric vehicle fleet will comprise directly owned or leased corporate fleet units. The plan includes conducting EV awareness programs, placing requirements in service contracts, installing charging infrastructure and incentivizing delivery executives towards EV usage. The company wants to “evangelise” electric vehicles across its logistics network.

Honda Benly e: via youtube.com

This is the kind of plans EV producers are waiting for. Take Honda, for instance, whose MD, President & CEO (Indian two-wheeler unit) has indicated that the company is looking for business customers wanting to adopt electric two-wheelers. Until it becomes possible to make EVs cheaper, business customers like e-commerce chains like Flipkart and delivery companies like Ekart can help bring the momentum in the EV space to make launch plans feasible as their usage is much heavier.

Back to India’s popular e-commerce company Flipkart, it is already working with other companies for creating the ecosystem it requires to put the EV100 plan into effect. It is in talks with charging providers, policymakers, regulators, skill development agencies, aggregators and OEMs. Work on designing and manufacturing EVs suitable for e-commerce operations has also begun.