Hero Lectro ties up FDL, Turtle Mobility to deploy e-cargo bikes for last-mile delivery

PTI, Jun 23, 2021, 9:23 AM IST

Mumbai: Hero Lectro, the electric vehicles arm of Hero Motors Company, has tied up with logistics firms Fast Despatch Logistics and Turtle Mobility to deploy e-cargo bikes for the last-mile delivery, a statement said on Tuesday.

Under an agreement between the parties, Hero Lectro’s e-cargo bikes are being procured by Turtle Mobility to be given out on lease to Fast Despatch Logistics (FDL), which also has plans to augment its fleet of e-bikes to up to 15,000 by the end of this year.

The partnership comes close on the heels of Hero Lectro launching its first e-cargo bike WINN recently.

Besides, it also plans to introduce another purpose-built cargo vehicle soon for India’s rapidly growing last-mile delivery space, the statement said.

While FDL is a global last-mile delivery logistics company that has recently marked its entry into India, Turtle Mobility is a start-up that offers solutions for the last-mile delivery logistics needs including vehicles on lease.

Hero Lectro Cargo President and CEO Partha Choudhary said, ”E-cargo bikes are set to emerge as a game-changer for the last-mile delivery space, as they offer a huge potential for increasing per-day shipment capacity and achieving cost optimisation as compared to currently used internal combustion engine two-wheelers.”

He added that while a number of e-commerce providers have expressed their intent to turn to e-mobility, the industry also needs an ecosystem for implementing this change. ”Our partnership with FDL and Turtle Mobility is a step towards creating such an ecosystem under which logistics companies will be able to procure e-cargo bikes on lease and roll them out in the last-mile delivery space.”

Fast Despatch Logistics CEO Gurvinder Birk said, ”We are extremely excited for FDL and Hero Lectro collaboration in rolling out Hero Lectro Winn in Hyderabad and furthermore very soon.”

He added that with the potential to significantly bring down the cost per shipment, these bikes are currently the best bet to offer a competitive advantage and cost optimisation for last-mile logistics providers.

Turtle Mobility founder Kapil Gupta said, ”The use of e-cargo bikes has become increasingly commonplace in western countries for their multiple benefits, including low carbon footprint, ease of access, low operational costs as well as cost optimisation for last-mile deliveries.”

Turtle Mobility’s association with Hero Lectro and the viable ecosystem this creates between vehicle suppliers, leasers and last-mile operators will help enable more LSPs to convert their fleets to these bikes, he added.