Automakers across the globe are investing heavily in electric vehicles despite the fact that the demand for these vehicles at this point in time is not that high.
This signals that there are high chances of a significant rise in the demand for EVs in the global market over the next couple of years as there has been a noted trend in most delivery companies showing interest in shifting to electric vehicles for their daily last-mile deliveries.
The Indian market has seen exponential growth in the e-commerce and logistics sectors with an evergrowing demand that results from greater innovation and quicker services.
As the industries trying to solve the delivery and logistics keep increasing, the demand for more and more workforce driving around the city delivering products will keep increasing at a higher rate.
Industry giants like Amazon, Flipkart, IKEA, Swiggy, Grofers have already started using electric bikes for deliveries in most cities.
Reports state that on an average, BigBasket handles 60,000-70,000 orders a day across India and food delivery firm Swiggy delivers more than 300,000 orders a day.
As the competition among these companies is intensifying, the size of the fleet of delivery agents is increasing amid growing volumes.
The number of deliveries done by these companies together has tripled over time and with their scaled-up operations and so have their logistics costs.
In order to streamline operations while saving costs, these companies are looking at cost-effective and sustainable options.
As a step towards this change, these e-commerce giants have been collaborating with electric vehicle startups that are acting as enablers in the delivery ecosystem.
Announcing its plans to roll out electric vehicles for deliveries by March 2020, Walmart-owned e-commerce firm Flipkart has stated that it aims to replace nearly 40 percent of its existing fleet of delivery vans with electric vehicles. By the end of 2019, the company also plans to deploy about 160 e-vans.
E-commerce firms have also started working closely with Electric vehicle manufacturing companies to get the right designs suitable for deliveries.
Most of the e-commerce companies have already deployed electric vehicles in their supply chain and are also setting up charging infrastructure at their hubs to enable easy charging and ensure seamless operations.
With fast progress in this direction, both e-commerce and logistics companies in India are investing in electric vehicles extensively.
In the year 2013, ahead of the Paris Agreement of 2015, the Indian government set up a National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) to cut down the use of fossil fuels in vehicles
and set at least 30% electric vehicles among all vehicles on the road by 2030. The government has also proposed to invest INR 10,000 Cr towards Electric Vehicles adoption in the next couple of years.
With a lot of support from both government and companies like Flipkart, Amazon, Swiggy, etc, Electric Vehicle startups in India are progressing at a great pace.
In India, ventures such as bike rental company Vogo, electric bikes manufacturers Okinawa, e-Hiran, Gurugram based logistics startup DOT, Bike-sharing company Mobycy, micro-mobility startup Yulu have created successful partnerships with major e-commerce and delivery companies for last-mile deliveries.
The electric vehicles sector has a promising future in India and with delivery companies investing in EVs and choosing them for their operations can elevate their growth in the market much faster than we can think of.
Besides reducing their costs, companies also get to build a better position in the market for being eco-friendly and socially conscious.
In the Indian startup ecosystem, ventures like Flipkart, Ola, Axilor ventures, have been actively investing in Electric Mobility startups.
Bengaluru-based electric vehicle startup, Ather Energy has raised funding from investors which include Flipkart’s founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal.
Among the top electric vehicles startups is Coimbatore-based Ampere Vehicles was founded by Hemalatha Annamalai has raised an undisclosed amount of funds from Kris Gopalakrishnan, co-founder of Infosys and Chairman of Axilor Ventures.
Ola founders Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati invested in Pune-based electric vehicle startup Tork Motorcycles.
Bike rental companies like ONN Bikes have also started renting electric bikes at better prices. They have their own charging infrastructure and battery swapping stations making it easier for their customers to commute in the city without hassles.
It is evident that the e-commerce, delivery and the electric vehicles industries are evolving together and are complementing each other in a way that can skyrocket their growth.