Within a year of deploying the first set of electric vehicles (EVs) in India, Maersk is all set to strengthen its EV fleet to over 500 vehicles in 26 cities covering first-, middle- and last-mile distribution across India.
A.P. Moller – Maersk (Maersk) has the ambition to be Net Zero across business and provide customers with 100% green solutions by 2040. There is a strong need to decarbonise logistics at every stage to achieve this goal. It is important not only for Maersk to achieve these sustainability goals but for the customers too, who are demanding environmentally friendly solutions that would decarbonise their supply chains.
In September 2022, Maersk unveiled its three-wheeler and four-wheeler EVs in Mumbai, India and soon rolled them out for its first customer in the NCR region. Since then, the awareness around EVs that can support distribution logistics in India has risen, and with that has come an unprecedented demand from several customers.
Vikash Agarwal, Managing Director, Maersk South Asia, said, “India is a large market with a constantly growing demand for distribution logistics. E-Commerce has particularly seen unprecedented growth in India over the last few years and has tremendous potential to keep growing in the coming years.” He added, “With growing e-Commerce came the growing demand, especially for middle- and last-mile distribution. But it is not limited to just any distribution means – our customers are keen on decarbonising supply chains rapidly, and we are stepping in to support them with our fleet of EVs in India.”
Maersk has recently tied up with a large e-Commerce platform in India to support its distribution requirements with a dedicated fleet of EVs that range in the capacity of 550 to 700 Kgs with a driving range of over 120 km. Over 200+ vehicles have already been deployed across 15 cities, and more than 300 EVs will be deployed in the next two months to another 11 cities across India for the e-Commerce platform.
Jitendra Kapoor, Head of Middle Mile & Last Mile Distribution, Maersk South Asia, commented, “With a range of EVs available in our fleet, we are able to provide our customers the option to choose depending on the commodities they want to move and in the radius that they want to operate in. We have as small as two-wheelers that are delivering fresh ready-to-eat salads in the NCR region for a customer, to groceries and lifestyle items for another customer across the country.” So far, Maersk’s EV fleet has covered more than 135,000 km. Maersk is also investing in creating a charging network for its fleet of EVs, including the option to harness solar energy at its own facilities for warehouses across the country.
