Multi-brand EV platform BLive on Monday announced the expansion of its collaboration with Zomato in deploying electric scooters for last-mile deliveries in additional southern cities including Bengaluru. As part of this collaboration, BLive has partnered with two-wheeler manufacturer TVS to deploy its electric scooter, TVS iQube, for the gig workers of the food delivery platform.    

With this collaboration, Zomato is looking to move closer to cutting its carbon emissions to zero as envisioned through its ‘EV100’ initiative to make 100 per cent deliveries through electric vehicles (EV) by 2033.    

BLive has already deployed more than 400 EVs for Zomato in five major cities including Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Mumbai, ever since its first partnership with the food delivery platform in June 2023. With the most recent collaboration, BLive has deployed more than 100 EVs in the premium bike category.     

Indian online businesses are increasingly opting to electrify their delivery fleet to gain from economies of scale, increase earnings for their delivery personnel, and achieve their sustainability goals. However, introducing premium category EVs in the delivery segment remains tricky due to multiple reasons such as high upfront cost and uncertain resale value.     

Through the partnership, BLive has introduced a premium segment EV fleet on a Rent-to-Own model – Ezy Rental – to make EVs affordable for delivery executives. The model will allow delivery personnel to get ownership of premium EVs by paying rent consistently over three or more years.    

While Zomato doesn’t provide any exclusive incentive for its riders to adopt EVs, its platform enables riders to avail of such offers from brands like BLive.  

“By enrolling in the Rent-to-Own model they eventually save more and also get to own the premium EVs which in normal scenarios will not be financially feasible for the riders,” said BLive chief executive officer and co-founder Samarth Kholkar, in an exclusive conversation with Outlook Start-Up.  

The vehicles are registered under the fleet operator's name and the rider signs a contract with the franchise. So, even if a delivery rider discontinues working with Zomato, they can still keep the bike by making regular payments to the franchisee through the Blive Ezy Delivery mobile app, Kholkar explained.    

The move is expected to increase adoption of electric mobility for first- and last-mile connectivity in India’s burgeoning online commerce and food delivery segment, as more gig workers ditch their petrol-driven vehicles and switch to EVs as their preferred choice for cost-effective, low-maintenance, and efficient delivery services.    

“This will also strengthen BLive’s position as the one-stop shop for all EV solutions as we aim to onboard 1000 micro-fleet operators in the next 3 years to meet the requirements of the growing last-mile delivery sector,” said Kholkar.