Bigbasket to introduce more EVs for last-mile delivery by 2020
The online grocery major currently has 150 e-vans and 50 e-bikes, and is planning to increase the number to 1,000 vans and 2,000 bikes by next year.
Online grocery platform Bigbasket, which introduced electric vechicles (EVs) for its last-mile delivery operations in 2016, is set to scale it further, across metro cities. The online grocery major currently has 150 e-vans and 50 e-bikes, and is planning to increase the number to 1,000 vans and 2,000 bikes by next year.
Bigbasket Co-founder and CEO Hari Menon
KB Nagaraju, Chief Customer Experience, said in a press release:
“Bigbasket has always been committed towards carrying out its processes in a sustainable manner. Apart from undertaking other environment-friendly initiatives, we were the first to introduce electric vehicles (EVs) for our last-mile delivery operations back in 2016. Our scale and push for sustainable and renewable energy have resulted in tangible savings and a positive contribution towards the environment. Though there has been a significant push for EVs in the recent budget, there is a need to address the issue of bank finance to OEMs and small transporters and individual buyers as long as the vehicles are used for commercial transportation.”
Bigbasket first introduced Mahindra EVs - e-Supro model, for its last-mile delivery in Delhi-NCR. Over the years, it has worked with multiple e-van OEMs like Gayam Motors and Euler Motors.
Pushing the use of EVs further, it will be introducing e-bikes by companies including Honda, Okinawa, Li-on, and, Greaves Cotton. This will also enable the online grocery giant lower its delivery costs.
The company is working towards addressing challenges related to deployment of EVs - including availability of charging infrastructure and delinquency of loan repayment. Bigbasket provides charging infrastructure to EV transporters.
Alibaba-backed Bigbasket is now operational across 26 cities in India, recording 2.5 lakh customer orders every day. According to the company, it has a registered customer base of 15 million.
It was recently reported that the company was pumping in $100 million (about Rs 698 crore) to strengthen its supply chain by setting up vending machines and smaller distribution centres across various cities it operates in.
(Edited by Megha Reddy)
