Written by Visakh Sasikumar, Founder, Fyn Mobility
India’s urgent need to combat climate change highlights the increasing importance of sustainable solutions across all sectors. Logistics, driven by the booming e-commerce industry and growing demand for goods transportation, has witnessed significant growth.
However, this rapid expansion has come at a cost, with urban areas grappling with air pollution, traffic congestion, and carbon emissions. Transport currently contributes around 23% of India’s total carbon dioxide emissions.
The adoption of green mobility in logistics presents a unique opportunity to mitigate these negative impacts and align with India’s ambitious goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
While the deployment of electric vehicles (EVs) is a positive step, comprehensive measures beyond EV adoption are essential for long-term sustainability in logistics.
Accelerating EV Adoption:
The government’s commitment to accelerating EV adoption, demonstrated by a substantial budget allocation of INR 5,172 Cr for EV infrastructure development, has been instrumental in driving the growth of EV adoption. Particularly in the B2B sector of the logistics industry, companies are embracing EVs to align with the government’s vision of achieving 100% electric-powered logistics transport by 2030. However, establishing a sustainable and robust EV ecosystem requires careful planning and strategic measures.
Transitioning to Electric Logistics: Catalyst for Sustainability:
The adoption of green mobility practices in logistics has the potential to significantly reduce carbon emissions in India. Transitioning from traditional internal combustion engines to electric alternatives is already helping the logistics industry reduce its carbon footprint.
Studies indicate that a single EV can save up to 1.5 tons of CO2 emissions per year compared to a conventional vehicle. However, focusing solely on EV deployment is not enough. The industry must also transition from traditional logistics practices to smarter, technology-driven approaches.
This necessitates developing a technologically driven EV ecosystem platform that connects all stakeholders and clients involved in the deployment of EV fleets, ensuring comprehensive oversight, value creation, reduced costs, and enhanced sustainability.
Sustainable Strategies for Electric Logistics:
While EVs offer a greener alternative, ensuring the long-term sustainability of the EV ecosystem requires meticulous planning. Here are some sustainable strategies for EV logistics:
Cross Utilization of Fleets: Employing a smart EV ecosystem platform enables optimized delivery rosters, maximizing fleet utilization, reducing the number of EVs required, and minimizing environmental impact.
Fast Charging EVs: Prioritizing the use of fast charging EVs can reduce fleet costs, the overall carbon footprint, and increase efficiency.
Addressing Concerns and Challenges:
To expedite the adoption of green mobility in logistics, critical concerns and challenges must beaddressed:
Increasing Charging Infrastructure: Expanding the number of charging stations, alleviates range anxiety and provides reliable and accessible charging options. India currently has around 5300 charging stations, but an additional 46k stations are required to cater to the growing number of EVs.
Localisation of EV Manufacturing: Enhancing domestic manufacturing and fostering partnerships with indigenous suppliers and OEMs will reduce production costs and lead timesby overcoming limited availability of EV components in India.
Safety: Establishing guidelines, conducting tests, and advancing design, manufacturing technology, and smart BMS are critical to improve battery quality and instill confidence in EVs.
Data-Backed Approach: Leveraging smart, IoT-enabled fleets allows businesses to collectand utilize data for informed decision-making, reducing costs and ensuring a sustainable fleet.
While the industry is growing at rapid speed, if we are able to implement the considerationsmentioned above, we will be able to bring in EVs for the long run.
Green mobility in logistics holds immense potential for India to achieve its ambitious goal of net zero carbon emissions. By transitioning to electric vehicles and embracing sustainable practices, the logistics industry can significantly reduce carbon footprints and contribute to a greener and more sustainable future.
