Amazon recently announced that it had passed its goal of reaching 10,000 electric vehicles (EVs) in its India delivery fleet, more than a year earlier than planned.
The EVs are making deliveries in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru– and a total of 500 cities from Lehto Gangtok. Achieving this goal more than a year early is an important milestone in Amazon’s efforts to meet its Climate Pledge commitment of net-zero carbon emissions across its operations by 2040, 10 years ahead of the Paris Agreement.
The achievement reduces carbon emissions by taking traditional diesel vehicles off Indian roads. Amazon continues to make progress in decarbonising its fleet and is the first e-commerce company to test long-range electric heavy trucks along the 350km Bengaluru-Chennai highway under The Climate Pledge’s Laneshift Initiative.
The project brings together industry leaders including Amazon, Ashok Leyland, Billion-E, and ChargeZone to explore the potential of long-range electric freight transportation.
As well as bringing together vehicle manufacturers and charging infrastructure providers, Amazon and The Climate Pledge have enabled hundreds of new jobs in India, thanks to collaboration with Delivery Service Providers, fleet operators, and finance providers.
Abhinav Singh, Vice President, Operations at Amazon India, said, “Having more than 10,000 electric vehicles in our fleet and successfully testing long-range electric trucks are achievements that we are very proud of at Amazon. As a company and as a country, we must transition to zero tailpipe emission trucks to meet India’s net-zero goals and cut reliance on diesel freight.
The logistics industry still faces limited charging infrastructure and range anxiety, and we are excited to continue to work with the government and key players in the industry to find solutions.”
Amazon has developed custom EVs through collaborations with leading manufacturers like Volvo Eicher, Tata Motors, Mahindra Electric, Ashok Leyland and Altigreen.
The company enables affordable financing for electric two-wheelers, three-wheelers and trucks, helping to lower adoption barriers among Delivery Service Providers and Delivery Associates, working with fintech firms including Risewise, VidyutTech, cKers, Turn0, NBFCs, lending institutions and the Small Industries Development Bank of India.
The company has also collaborated with government initiatives like “Shoonya” and NITI-Aayog’s e-FAST program.
