Flipkart to Deploy Electric Vehicles for Last-Mile Deliveries in India, Partners With EDEL by Mahindra Logistics

Flipkart and EDEL by Mahindra Logistics have announced a partnership that will see the e-commerce giant using electric vehicles (EVs) for its last-mile deliveries. Committing to 100 percent electric mobility, Flipkart will also deploy over 25,000 EVs in its fleet by 2030. Last-mile delivery is the last step of any delivery process, where a parcel is moved from a transportation hub to its final destination, like a personal residence or a retail store. Mahindra Logistics launched its electric delivery brand EDEL late last year across six cities in India. EDEL will not only help Flipkart with last-mile deliveries but will also provide ample infrastructure to fully utilise the deployment of EVs and operations across the country. Mahindra Logistics has partnered with various OEMs to help with logistics.

Announcing their partnership through a press release, Flipkart said that Mahindra Logistics, through EDEL, will help in providing charging stations and parking lots, training workforce, route planning, and battery swapping stations for the e-commerce platform in the future.

“Electrification of the logistics fleet is an important part of Flipkart's larger sustainability goal and a key focus area for the company,” Flipkart's supply chain senior vice president Hemant Badri said. “We are happy to have Mahindra Logistics on-board as a logistics partner, who will play a major role in helping us achieve our vision of making our logistics fleet fully electric by 2030.” Flipkart has already partnered with Hero Electric, Mahindra Electric, and Piaggio to introduce two- and three-wheeled EVs in its supply chain. It has also been working closely with the R&D teams of the companies to develop EVs by helping them build customised vehicles for the e-commerce industry.

Commenting on this, Mahindra Logistics CEO Rampraveen Swaminathan said, “The EV-based last-mile delivery service EDEL is aligned to this and provides customers with a sustainable, cost-competitive and technology-enabled last-mile delivery solution. Our focus is on expanding our network based on our deep partnership with large enterprise customers.” EDEL has developed EVs that fare well against its internal combustion-engine counterparts with an enhanced range and load capacity.

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