Joint Operation Unifying Last-mile Electrification: A collaboration to accelerate electric last-mile delivery in Bengaluru, India

Featuring

Transport Cities and Built Environment Joint Action

By The Climate Pledge

Signatories are building a comprehensive electric vehicle charging network in Bengaluru to reduce emissions, improve air quality, and create a more sustainable transportation system.

"India’s road transport sector still heavily relies on diesel and petrol, which have significant negative impacts on pollution and CO2 emissions. But there is a silver lining in this – while India's EV penetration is low compared to other countries, it is expected to become one of the largest EV markets in the world by 2030. By bringing together companies from different sectors, this initiative is helping to create a more-sustainable and efficient model for EV charging – and accelerating EV adoption in India."

Shailesh Tyagi

Partner, Sustainability & Climate, Deloitte India

Bengaluru, known as India’s Silicon Valley, is the third fastest-growing city in the world. Today the city faces severe air pollution due to rapid urbanization and surge in vehicle density. The transition to zero-tailpipe emissions via electric vehicles (EV) offers a cleaner alternative to traditional vehicles, and will significantly reduce air pollution in the city. Despite this, EV adoption has seen its challenges in India, including high upfront costs, limited charging infrastructure, and range anxiety.

Akshay Shekhar, Co-founder & CEO, Kazam, discusses the role of collaboration to improve charging infrastructure and EV adoption, at the launch of JOULE on September 16, 2024, alongside Abhinav Singh, VP Operations Amazon India; Rampraveen Swaminathan, MD & CEO, Mahindra Logistics, Dr. Rambabu Paravastu, CSO, Greenko, Mathsy Kutty, APAC lead, The Climate Pledge

That’s why a coalition of Climate Pledge signatories – including Amazon, Deloitte, Greenko, HCLTech, Mahindra Logistics, and Uber – committed to building a comprehensive EV charging network in Bengaluru. These signatories, and other companies like Kazam and Magenta Mobility, are taking significant steps toward reducing emissions in their last-mile deliveries, cab rides, business travel, and employee commutes. Joint Operation Unifying Last-mile Electrification (JOULE) will harness renewable energy, reducing the city’s dependency on fossil fuel-heavy grids and using existing sustainability-focused government policies to make it easier for the private sector to operate in the region.

In addition to accelerating EV adoption and reducing demand-side company’s transportation emissions, JOULE will also drive investments of over US$2.65 million, including development of EV charging infrastructure. While the project is estimated to support over 5,500 EVs in Bengaluru by 2030 (based on expected demand), it is able to service over 9,500 EVs at full capacity. All of the electricity used by the charging stations from this project (projected to reach 22,700 megawatt-hours of power) will be matched with 100% renewable energy, adding an estimated 6.2 megawatt of renewable energy capacity. By 2030, the project is expected to save over 11.2 million liters of fuel and abate an estimated 25,700 tonnes of carbon dioxide. Beyond reducing tailpipe emissions and improving air quality in Bengaluru, the project is also estimated to create about 185 full-time jobs between 2024 to 2030.

Ultimately, this coalition of signatories hopes to scale up last-mile transport using this project’s blueprint. It’s a model for how companies can solve problems faster, cheaper, and more creatively together than alone.