Flipkart To Go Electric For Last-Mile Delivery
The online retailer aims to replace nearly 40 percent of its existing last-mile fleet of delivery vans with EVs by March 2020.
India’s largest e-commerce marketplace plans to replace its last-mile delivery vans with electric vehicles.
On Thursday, Walmart-owned Flipkart in a statement said it aims to replace nearly 40 percent of its existing last-mile fleet of delivery vans with EVs by March 2020. The e-tailer said it is looking to deploy nearly 160 electric vans across cities by the end of 2019.
Flipkart plans to work with manufacturers to get the right designs for its electric vans.
“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,” Flipkart Group Chief Executive Officer Kalyan Krishnamurthy said. “Our vision is to replace a significant portion of our last-mile delivery with EVs in the coming years and also contribute towards clean and sustainable mobility.”
Flipkart said it will set up necessary charging infrastructure at its hubs to be able to deploy electric delivery vans at a larger scale and ensure seamless operations.
The company aims to reduce its carbon emissions by over 50 percent and has already deployed eight EVs in Hyderabad, 10 in New Delhi and 30 e-bikes in Bengaluru.