India: Amazon will integrate 3,000 electric trucks from Tata Motors
Amazon and Tata Motors are collaborating to integrate 3,000 electric trucks into Amazon’s delivery network in India. The first batch of 20 electric trucks has now arrived in Delhi. While Amazon acts as the partner, it is the logistics partners of this e-commerce giant that will purchase and operate these large electric vehicles.
Image: Amazon
The American company Amazon has unveiled plans to deploy 3,000 electric trucks in India. According to the company, this would represent the largest deployment of electric trucks by an e-commerce firm in India. However, the partners have not specified a timeline for this massive procurement effort.
In any case, Amazon has brought India’s largest commercial vehicle manufacturer, Tata Motors, on board for this initiative. The OEM delivered the first 20 units under this partnership this week. H.D. Kumaraswamy, India’s Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel, was also present. His attendance underscores the significance of this procurement move for the rollout of electric trucks in the country.
Important: It is not Amazon that will purchase the electric trucks. Rather, under the agreement now made public, Amazon’s logistics partners will buy the 3,000 electric trucks from Tata Motors and operate them on Amazon’s behalf. This “asset-light” strategy aims to enable the e-commerce giant to electrify its delivery fleet without having to make large investments itself, while also reducing risks.
Amazon states that it will deploy the new electric trucks manufactured by Tata Motors in Delhi during this year’s Indian holiday season, when e-commerce companies and retailers typically experience particularly high freight volumes. The company intends to use these electric vehicles not only for last-mile delivery but also plans to employ Tata Motors’ lightweight and medium-duty electric trucks for transporting goods between its facilities.
In a second phase, Amazon plans to deploy its electric trucks on National Highway 48 as well, which starts in the capital Delhi in the north and ends in Chennai (Tamil Nadu) in the south. With a length of around 2,800 kilometers, it is set to become India’s longest freight transport corridor. It runs through seven states and six of the country’s largest e-commerce regions. The necessary charging infrastructure will be provided by Yahhvi, a Delhi-based company specializing in charging solutions for electric commercial vehicles.
Regarding the vehicles themselves: The first units delivered by Tata Motors to Amazon are all lightweight electric trucks of the Ultra E.7 model. This model has a maximum gross weight of 7.5 tons and offers a payload capacity of 3.1 tons in its container configuration. The powertrain includes a 240-kW permanent magnet synchronous motor and a 96-kWh LFP battery. Equipped in this way, the Ultra E.7 is said to have a range of up to 130 kilometers.
Amazon claims to be operating over 15,000 electric vehicles in more than 500 cities in India. These include many two- and three-wheeled vehicles in the micromobility sector. Regarding the new initiative to scale up electric trucks as well, Abhinav Singh, Amazon’s Vice President for Operations in the APAC region, the Middle East, Africa, and Turkey, said, “We are setting an ambitious goal to expand the use of electric trucks and address one of the biggest challenges in decarbonizing transportation. Our partnership with Tata Motors is a crucial step toward realizing this vision.”