Zomato commits to 100% adoption of electric vehicles by 2030

Food delivery company Zomato has joined the likes of Flipkart and Amazon to support sustainable last-mile delivery. The company has committed to adopt electric vehicles (EVs) for 100% of its fleet by 2030 and joined the Climate Group’s global electric mobility initiative - EV100.

Zomato's current EV fleet is a small fraction of the active fleet of its delivery partners and is deployed for deliveries in cities such as Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai. The company's founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal, in a blog post, said that though 100% adoption of EVs will not be easy, it is essential in the long run. He pointed out that due to a few barriers, the current adoption rate is slow.

These barriers include limited battery range, lack of charging infrastructure, higher upfront costs and lack of trust in new technology. However, the company expects a faster adoption rate in coming times given the rapid innovation in the field and positive push by the government. "We expect a much faster transition to EVs for the two wheeler industry over time," Goyal said.

He further said that his company wants to actively aid the transition to EVs by enabling the ecosystem – EV players, battery manufacturers, and the government. The company is already working with a few EV players to design pilots and create business models that could facilitate a faster transition towards sustainable delivery solutions.

The Climate Group is an international non-profit organisation with the mission to drive accelerated climate action to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 by mobilizing and sensitizing corporations and governments. "We want to be accountable for the impact we create and contribute to finding solutions for the world’s most important environmental challenges, that are a by-product of our own progress," Goyal added.

E-commerce giant Flipkart had also announced last year that it will transition to electric vehicles completely by 2030 by joining the Climate Group’s EV100.