Amazon partners with Mahindra Electric to include EVs in delivery fleet

The e-commerce major would continue to work with several OEMs to build a fleet of 'Made in India' electric vehicles that ensure sustainable and safe delivery of customers' orders

E-commerce giant Amazon India has partnered with Mahindra Electric to add more electric vehicles (EVs) to its delivery fleet in the country. In 2020, Amazon India had announced that its fleet of delivery vehicles would include 10,000 EVs by 2025 – these would be over and above the global commitment of 100,000 EVs by 2030 under the company’s Climate Pledge. The partnership with Mahindra Electric is an important step towards India’s progress in the e-mobility industry to achieve its environmental sustainability goals.

“We are committed to building a supply chain that will minimise the environmental impact of our operations,” said Akhil Saxena, Amazon vice-president for customer fulfilment operations, APAC, MENA and LATAM. “The expansion of our EV fleet to 10,000 vehicles by 2025 is an integral milestone in our journey to become a sustainability leader in the industry.”

Jeff Bezos-led Amazon would continue to work with several original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to build a fleet of ‘Made in India’ EVs that ensure sustainable and safe delivery of customers’ orders.

Nitin Gadkari, minister of road transport and highways, micro, small and medium enterprises, said: “Clean mobility, powered by clean energy, is an important element in the action to prevent climate change. The partnership between Amazon India and Mahindra Electric is a welcome step, which reaffirms India’s significant progress in the e-mobility industry, and highlights the role of automakers and e-commerce companies to achieve our environmental sustainability goals.”

The minister said the government’s efforts to encourage the adoption of electric vehicles in the country, and steps taken towards setting up of infrastructure backed by policy measures would help more companies adopt e-mobility. “India’s dynamic public-and private-sector leadership, entrepreneurial culture, ability to build world-class infrastructure, and a unique confluence of IT and manufacturing skills will enable us to take a global leadership position in advanced mobility solutions,” said Gadkari.

Mahindra’s Treo Zor vehicles are a range of three-wheelers. They have so far been deployed in seven cities, including Bengaluru, New Delhi, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Indore and Lucknow, with Amazon India’s network of delivery service partners. Significant progress in the Indian e-mobility industry in the last few years has led to advanced technology, and superior motor and battery components. In addition, the government’s focus to encourage the adoption of electric vehicles in the country and steps towards setting up charging infrastructure with the FAME 2 policy has helped the company accelerate and chart its vision for EVs in India.

Mahindra Treo Zor

“We are proud to partner with Amazon in deploying Mahindra Treo Zor EV in their delivery partners’ fleet,” said Mahesh Babu, managing director and CEO, Mahindra Electric Mobility Ltd. “We believe, this will redefine India’s logistics and last-mile delivery needs and at the same time help Mahindra and Amazon to achieve our sustainability goals.”

In September 2019, Amazon had become the first signatory of the Climate Pledge, which states that the company would be net-zero-carbon by 2040 across its businesses – a decade ahead of the Paris Agreement’s goal of 2050. By joining ‘The Climate Pledge’ and agreeing to decarbonise faster, signatories will play a critical role in stimulating investment in the development of low-carbon products and services that will be required to help companies meet the pledge. In support of The Climate Pledge commitment to be net-zero carbon by 2040, as many as 10,000 Amazon custom electric delivery vehicles would be on the road delivering to customers worldwide as early as 2022 and all 100,000 by 2030.