The demand for electric vehicles (EVs) has increased among e-commerce companies and consumer goods manufacturers as compared to the last year, in an effort to save costs and fulfil carbon emission standards, according to a report by The Economic Times. Among the companies switching to electric vehicles are Flipkart, BigBasket, Bisleri, Zomato, Amul, Amazon, Hindustan Unilever, Swiggy, and Coca-Cola.
Jayen Mehta, Managing Director of India’s largest dairy producer, Amul, mentioned that the company’s milk distributors are already utilising EVs in regions like Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Punjab. Additionally, Amul has started making last-mile ice cream deliveries using electric vehicles.
Electric three-wheelers are the preferred choice within the e-commerce sector. The operating costs of electric three-wheelers are much lower than those of those run on diesel or compressed natural gas (CNG), according to Amitabh Saran, Co-Founder of the electric three-wheeler company Altigreen.
Despite the fact that the market’s current size is between 1.2-1.3 million units annually, he continued, India has not yet fully explored three-wheeler formats, so there is still a considerable market potential.
Sales of electric two-wheelers and cars are anticipated to increase dramatically. Over 100,000 electric cars and nearly a million electric two-wheelers are predicted to be sold this fiscal year, up from roughly 50,000 electric cars and 727,000 electric two-wheelers sold in FY23. Firms are investing heavily in charging stations to accommodate this increase and maintain smooth operations.
For middle-mile and last-mile deliveries over the next five years, Amazon India and Eicher Motors and Buses have announced a cooperation that will result in the purchase of 1,000 electric trucks. Similar to this, TVS Motor Co. has inked a deal with the meal delivery service Zomato for 10,000 electric scooters over the next two years.
In order to lower fixed operational and logistics costs, companies are turning more and more of their attention towards electric commercial vehicles. The cost per kilometre for an electric vehicle for commercial use is about a fifth of the current Rs. 4 needed for petrol or diesel vehicles, making economics a driving force behind EV adoption, according to Sameer Aggarwal, Founder of RevFin.
Furthermore, the market share of electric three-wheelers is currently between 50-55%, Sameer Aggarwal added. He also predicted that this market would rise to about 80% in the coming year.
