A.P. Moller – Maersk has recently tied up with a large e-Commerce platform in India to support its distribution requirements with a dedicated fleet of electric vehicles (EVs) that range in the capacity of 550 to 700 Kgs with a driving range of over 120 km.
Over 200 electric vehicles have already been deployed across 15 cities, and more than 300 EVs will be deployed in the next two months to another 11 cities across India for the e-Commerce platform, according to Maersk’s statement.
“With a range of EVs available in our fleet, we are able to provide our customers the option to choose depending on the commodities they want to move and in the radius that they want to operate in. We have as small as two-wheelers that are delivering fresh ready-to-eat salads in the NCR region for a customer, to groceries and lifestyle items for another customer across the country,” said Jitendra Kapoor, head of Middle Mile & Last Mile Distribution of Maersk South Asia.
So far, Maersk’s EV fleet has covered more than 135,000 km, while the Danish company is also investing in creating a charging network for its fleet of EVs, including the option to harness solar energy at its own facilities for warehouses across the country.
Maersk unveiled its three-wheeler and four-wheeler EVs in Mumbai back in September 2022 and soon rolled them out for its first customer in the NCR region.
“India is a large market with a constantly growing demand for distribution logistics. E Commerce has particularly seen unprecedented growth in India over the last few years and has tremendous potential to keep growing in the coming years. With growing e-Commerce came the growing demand, especially for middle- and last-mile distribution. But it is not limited to just any distribution means – our customers are keen on decarbonising supply chains rapidly, and we are stepping in to support them with our fleet of EVs in India,” commented Vikash Agarwal, managing director of Maersk South Asia.
