Swiggy, India’s leading online food ordering and delivery platform, has inked a partnership with Reliance BP Mobility Limited or RBML - a JV between Reliance Industries and British energy major BP Plc, to establish an electric vehicle ecosystem in a bid to boost EV adoption and reduce the cost of transportation.
In addition to above, the company has collaborated with Hero Lectro- a prominent manufacturer of electric cycles and Fast Despatch Logistics, a last-mile distributor in the UK, to facilitate end-to-end delivery of food orders using electric cycles.
Sriharsha Majety, CEO of Swiggy, was quoted stating that “the firm has been seeking to adopt sustainable channel by taking necessary steps to reduce its carbon footprint. The transition to electric variants will help enhance the environment along with empowering the delivery partners to earn more.”
Founded in 2014, Swiggy is focusing on covering nearly 800,000 km daily using EVs by 2025 along with reducing the cost of vehicle running by 40%.
Driven by efforts taken by the government to encourage the adoption of electric vehicles, through the latest agreement with RBML, Swiggy aims at building battery-swapping stations for delivery partners across India.
Seemingly, a single pre-charged battery cell will be able to cover nearly 65 km to 80 km. The battery swap will take less than five minutes, ensuring a shorter wait time, consequently leading to number deliveries.
Sources cite that the food delivery startup will train its delivery partners on using electric delivery models, battery swapping models, and applications that help monitor the performance of the battery.
Additionally, Swiggy’s alliance with Hero Lectro and Fast Despatch Logistics will witness the deployment of e-cycles for last-mile deliveries which is presently being tested in Hyderabad and will gradually be expanded to other metro cities across the country.
On the other hand, EV trials are already in place in New Delhi, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad.
Source Credits: https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/swiggy-partners-with-reliance-bp-mobility-to-build-ev-ecosystem-7270221.html