Zomato to support Jio-bp's initiative with 100 per cent electric vehicle (EV) fleet by 2030

In June, Jio-bp, a fuels and mobility joint venture between Reliance Industries and bp, came together with foodtech unicorn, Zomato, to support the latter in its 'The Climate Group's EV100' initiative of 100 per cent electric vehicle (EV) fleet by 2030.

For this, the food delivery giant plans to devise and execute several action points that can help it achieve this ambitious goal. Some of the efforts include making the riders aware of the importance of the EV ecosystem, spreading awareness to Tier II and III cities, and partnering with more OEMs and EV-rental start-ups, Shikhar Agarwal, Program Manager - Electric Vehicles Lead at Zomato told Business Today in an exclusive interaction. Agarwal was speaking at the EV Mela organised by Chargeup on Friday.

He began by highlighting that delivery riders in Tier I cities either don't have enough awareness about EVs or have a lot of myths around them.

He also added that a few incidents had also changed the sentiments of the delivery partners in the last few months. Agarwal, here, was referring to reports of EVs catching fire which has surfaced this year.

He said while riders in Tier I cities had less awareness, the riders in Tier II or III were not even aware of the EV ecosystem.

"We are making them understand how it (adoption of EVs) will benefit everyone in the long run," he tells BT. One of the biggest advantages, he says, is that it will increase the earnings of the riders as the cost of fuel will go down which is currently borne by them.

Additionally, he also noted that the foodtech company has partnered with companies that rent EVs to give the riders a hang of the two-wheeler vehicles. "EVs cost around Rs 1 lakh and a rider cannot buy one when he earns somewhere between Rs 15,000-Rs 25,000 a month."

One of Zomato's partners includes logistics and fleet-as-a-service start-up, Zypp Electric, which helps deliver some of its orders.

Another challenge that stops the wider adoption of EVs is the financing aspect. Agarwal says that it has partnered with OEMs such as Lohia Auto and Hero Electric which in turn have partnered with banks and NBFCs to make financing of EVs smooth and reasonable.

Currently, Zomato doesn't own EVs but its riders use approximately 4,000 EVs, according to Agarwal. Zomato might own EVs sometime later but that is not on cards in the immediate future, he adds.