Flipkart To Replace 40% Of Its Delivery Fleet With Electric Vehicles By March 2020

Flipkart has announced its decision to use electric vehicles for delivery. The e-commerce major has announced its decision to convert over 40 percent of its fleet to electric vehicles by March 2020. This is the biggest such step yet, taken by an e-commerce giant.

Flipkart has announced its move to switch to electric vehicles for delivery as part of its initiatives towards the protection of the environment. By switching to EVs, Flipkart hopes to reduce the pollution it generates and the fuel it consumes currently through the use of petrol and diesel-powered vans, three-wheelers and two-wheelers.

Through this move, Flipkart is not only cutting down on the pollution it is creating, but is also encouraging other brands and companies to adopt electric vehicles to reduce pollution. This is also expected to boost the growth of the EV industry in India.

Flipkart seems to be very happy with the results it obtained through a six-month-long test-phase in which various electric vehicles were tested for last-mile delivery. During this phase, Flipkart used 10 electric vans in Delhi, 8 EVs in Hyderabad and 30 electric two-wheelers in Bangalore.

One common concern during the test period was charging infrastructure. Flipkart has decided to tackle this problem by installing more charging points at their delivery hubs across India. Flipkart found that running electric vehicles for last mile delivery brought down fuel costs by a large percentage and that emissions reduced by 50 percent.

The first phase of Flipkart's conversion to 40 percent EVs by 2020 will see the firm buying around 160 electric vans for use in major cities across India.

Thoughts On Flipkart To Replace 40 Percent Of Its Delivery Fleet With Electric Vehicles

Flipkart is one of the largest Indian companies, not just in the e-commerce sector but in the entire economy too. With so much influence, Flipkart's adoption of electric vehicles is certain to send a message out to the general public.

Electric vehicles are still a long way off from being adopted by the general public as their daily drivers and there are multiple reasons for it. First and foremost is the cost. Electric vehicles cost a lot more than their petrol or diesel-powered counterparts and adding to this is the lack of charging infrastructure.

There seems to be no solution in sight for both issues, but the government is pushing hard for the growth of EVs. It remains to be seen how things turn out.