Bengaluru-based logistics platform, Cogos, has announced that it will be adding 2500 electric vehicles (EV) to its delivery fleet across Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi, and Gujarat, and later in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. The company claims that it wants to reduce the carbon footprint of its fleet, and this move will help it achieve a reduction of 15000 tonnes of CO2 when running at full capacity, per year. The EVs will be added to the company’s fleet in a phased manner, over the next 24 months. Cogos has partnered with electric vehicle manufacturers like Altigreen, Mahindra, and Piaggio among others procure these EVs.
Talking about the development, Prasad Sreeram, Co-founder and CEO, Cogos said, “It is important for us, as a logistics company, to focus not just on efficiency and cost, but also on sustainability. With this fleet augmentation of 2500 EVs, we are on track to achieve as much as 30 percent of our revenues from green technologies by 2023. We want to give customers a significant edge in efficient and responsible distribution and last-mile delivery solutions. EV is the future of mobility and city logistics have higher operating costs and lower traveling distances, hence are best suited for EV adoption for the logistics sector.”
While currently, the company operates with three-wheeler commercial vehicles that have a payload capacity of 500 kgs, it is already working with the OEMs for four-wheeler EVs with a capacity of 1 tonne. The EVs will be used for the e-commerce, grocery, distribution, and mobility sector. Cognos has already entered into deployment agreements of 500+ vehicles for leading E-Com Enterprise and another 300+ with Food, FMCG, and Mobility enterprises.
Cogos aims to strengthen the ecosystem by promoting EV ownership and creating a pool of fleet-owning entrepreneurs focused on sustainable growth. The company says that it will have a special focus on women empowerment through entrepreneurship and upskilling, along with evangelizing the benefits of EV to finance providers. To realize that, the company has entered into a tripartite agreement with the owner-operator and the financing entity, to support better financing for driver-partners. Cogos is also educating potential fleet owners on the benefits of EVs, like the fact that the cost of operating a commercial EV is only 50 paise per kilometer, which is multiple times lesser than fossil-fuel-based vehicles.