A.P. Moller – Maersk is decarbonising its road fleet in India by switching to electric vehicles for transporting cargo to customers as the integrated logistics company aims to become net zero by 2040.
In the first phase, Moller-Maersk will deploy electric-powered vehicles across Tier I cities in India, focusing on an overall radius of 100 km, the company said.
“The deployment will be for B2B middle mile distribution. Our EVs can cover around 100 km with a maximum of 650 kg payload. Next in line will be the EV trailers with a payload of up to 25 metric tonnes,” the company said while unveiling the electric vehicles on Thursday.
Under middle mile distribution, the electric vehicles will run between Maersk’s warehouses and customer warehouses or stores.
Moller-Maersk said it electric vehicles are equipped with fast charging technology and can get to 100 percent charge in 45 minutes. The charging stations will be set up at its warehouses.
The electric vehicles have been leased from Bangalore-based advanced battery technology start-up Log9 Materials.
Moller-Maersk aims to have 50 electric vehicles on its fleet by the end of the year.
Road transportation is the backbone for supporting end-to-end logistics.
“To serve our customers, we have a large fleet of vehicles with which we are covering 77 percent of postal codes across India. With the unveiling of our electric vehicles today, we are now taking steps toward decarbonising this fleet that will contribute to the larger ambition of becoming net zero by 2040,” it added.
The firm has access to over 4,000 vehicles for landside transportation to customers.