Govt. of Delhi Unviels Urban Mobility Lab; Aims to Promote EV Extensively

Delhi government announced the launched its striving Urban Mobility Lab (UML) initiative in corporation with the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) to endorse innovation of clean and sustainable mobility solutions in Delhi. The lab was launched by the Transport, Minister Kailash Gahlot, and Vice Chairperson, Dialogue and Development Commission (DDC), Jasmine Shah, in the attendance of several stakeholders from government, industry and civil society. "Delhi government is dedicated to reduce vehicular pollution through the introduction of electric vehicles in Delhi," Kailash Gahlot, minister of transport, the government of NCT of Delhi said.

As part of the Urban Mobility Lab, Delhi government also declared its first electric vehicles freight pilot. Over 30 players in final-mile urban delivery from across India have come together in Delhi as part of the Urban Mobility Lab with the goal of piloting up to 1,000 electric vehicles (EVs) for urban deliveries in the city over the next 12 months. It is a first-of-its-kind project with an objective to pilot and rigorously analyse the performance of EVs for urban deliveries.

Partakers in the pilot working group comprise ecommerce firms like Amazon, Bigbasket, Flipkart, Grofers, Uber Eats and Zomato, while vehicle aggregators and logistics firms such as Amplus Solar, Areon, Blue Dart Express, DOT, Efleet Logix and GATI. Among electric vehicles manufacturers, there are Altigreen PL, Euler Motors, Evy Mobility, Hero Electric, Jitendra EV, Li-ions Elektrik, Mahindra Electric, Onnbikes, Shigan Evoltz, Tata Motors, Tork Motors and Va-yu.

Charge Station Providers comprise Delta Group, Magenta Power, Charge-Zone, Sun Mobility while in DISCOMs, BSES Rajdhani Power, BSES Yamuna Power, Tata Power Limited have participated.

At the announcement of the pilot, Transport Minister of Delhi, Gahlot, "Delhi government believes electric vehicles (EVs) are the future and its time to bring this future into the present. To make life easier and better for the common man, it is critical that the cost of EVs comes down. We are willing to work with all stakeholders in the industry and resolve any hurdles that they face in the roll out of EVs in the city." Jasmine Shah, Vice Chairperson of DDC-Delhi, added, "Delhi aims to become the EV capital of India. Electrification of final mile delivery vehicles has the potential to kick-start the transition to EVs in the city. We expect this pilot to pave the way for other market segments and are committed to its success."