India: Food delivery service Zomato to transition to fully-electric fleet by 2030

Zomato, one of India’s largest food delivery apps, announced that it would transition its fleet of vehicles to fully-electric by 2030 to reduce its carbon footprint. The move is also a part of it joining the EV100 collective, under which corporates in India, like Amazon competitor Flipkart, have agreed to use only EVs in their fleets to support climate action. Zomato currently makes 35% of its deliveries by bicycles in Delhi and when extended to Mumbai and Bangalore, bicycles make up 20% of its operations. 

Meanwhile, the government of India upgraded the subsidy available to electric two- and three-wheelers under FAME-II by 50%, which now means that the quantum of subsidy cover for each unit goes from ₹10,000/kWh to ₹15,0000/kWh. 

CESL to procure 500,000 EVs for India, halve the ownership cost of two-wheelers

The Convergence Energy Services Ltd. (CESL) consortium announced that it would procure 500,000 new EVs for India (200,000 of which would be two-wheelers) to improve their visibility and accelerate their adoption. A part of the plan is to order 30,000 electric two- and three-wheelers for the states of Goa and Kerala, and Kinetic Green Energy, Hero Electric and Mahindra Electric Mobility have each expressed interest in being the vehicle suppliers. CESL could also lease out electric three-wheelers as garbage collection vehicles across a number of municipalities. 

Delhi plans single-window clearance for EV charging points

One year after the Delhi government rolled out its EV policy, it has now announced plans to introduce single-window clearances for the installation of charging points. The decision is expected to help accelerate the setting up of a charging network in private and semi-public places such as hospitals, malls, parking lots and apartment complexes. The call to ease the red tape was taken during a multi-stakeholder meeting chaired by Delhi’s Dialogue and Development Commission vice-chairperson Jasmine Shah.

US: EVs getting cleaner despite previous government’s focus on coal 

A new analysis from the University of Southern California revealed that EVs had gotten considerably cleaner in the US when comparing data between 2018 and 2019. The study found that their average miles per gallon (MPG) equivalent rating (versus a traditional, 20 MPG gasoline car) went up from 88 MPG for 2018 to 93 MPG by 2019, despite the Trump administration championing coal. Yet, the carbon footprint of the cars varied widely based on which region of the US they were driven in. The cleanest were upstate New York and California with MPGe of 255 and 134 because of their minimal intake of coal power. The dirtiest was the state of Ohio, where the same EV would only average 41 MPGe due to its heavy reliance on coal power. In Hawaii as well, which is powered almost exclusively by oil, the MPGe rating stood at an average of 43.

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