With plans to deploy 500 EVs, Grofers is joining the electric vehicle bandwagon
With plans to deploy 500 EVs, Grofers is joining the electric vehicle bandwagon

Grofers, the online grocery startup, is planning to deploy 500 electric vehicles for its last-mile delivery by the end of this year. With this, the grocery retailer will join the electric vehicle bandwagon.

The move comes at a time when the central government has been pushing towards the use of electric vehicles.

Last year, Grofers began piloting with electric vans by deploying 50 vehicles in Delhi. However, the firm is now taking serious steps in this direction.

Saurabh Kumar, Co-Founder of Grofers, said, “Our experiment was largely successful. We were able to reduce the last-mile delivery costs by 50% in places where the EVs were deployed.”

At present, Grofers has 100 EVs in Delhi and 50 in Jaipur. The startup is planning to introduce EVs for last-mile delivery in the 13 cities they are present in by the end of 2019. The move will half their last-mile delivery costs.

“The addition of EVs will help cut down our last-mile delivery costs by up to 50 per cent and carbon footprint by more than 40 per cent. With one charge these EVs can run for 60-70 km and each has a load-bearing capacity of 30 orders, costing Rs 20,000–25,000 per month. Compare this with our diesel and CNG four-wheelers which have a greater load-bearing capacity of up to 50 orders but cost us Rs 60,000–65,000 to run,” Kumar stated.

 
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