- General
- December 3, 2020
- 4 minutes read
Amazon Looks To Buy Into Indian EV Venture
The Indian arm of the e-commerce giant Amazon is looking to buy a strategic stake in an Indian electric vehicle…
The Indian arm of the e-commerce giant Amazon is looking to buy a strategic stake in an Indian electric vehicle company and partner with whichever company to procure custom electric vehicles for its logistics operations in India, mirroring a similar deal that Amazon has made in the US with the electric car startup Rivian.
Amazon led a $700 million round for Rivian last year and later on booked a purchase of 100,000 electric vans from the company. It seems that Amazon is looking to replicate that deal in India, now in talks with local electric carmakers including bigger names like Mahindra Electric and Kinetic Green and smaller startups Gayam Motor Works, E-trio, and Altigreen, The Economic Times reports.
Early this year, Amazon announced that it’ll add 10,000 electric vehicles to its India fleet by 2025 after successful pilots in different cities across the country. Under its broader global plan, Amazon has committed to adding 100,000 electric vehicles to its global fleet by 2030.
Unlike in other countries, Amazon’s planned electric fleet in India will include both 4-wheeler and 3-wheeler vehicles, the latter which is more common in India than in many other countries.
According to The Economic Times, Amazon has held talks with some aforementioned Indian electric vehicle startups and more established companies alike and could reach a final strategic investment deal as a result.
Amazon has mammoth global logistics operations that burn lots of fossil fuel and to that, the company has been ramping up its climate initiatives over the years. Last year, it announced The Climate Pledge initiative which encourages both itself and other companies to meet the goals of the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change ten years early.
The Climate Pledge, just after a year, has drawn signups from big names globally including Mercedes Benz, Siemens, Schneider Electric, Best Buy, Verizon, and just recently Uber, JetBlue, Rivian, Cabify, and Boom Supersonic.
Photo credit: Amazon
