Lightning Logistics Pvt Ltd plans to increase the size of its electric 2-wheeler fleet from 6,000 now to 25,000 in a couple of years. Its associate company, Numeros Motor Pvt Ltd, is the main manufacturer-supplier of the vehicles. 

Both companies are owned by Shreyas Shibulal, son of Sarojini Damodaran Shibulal, one of the founders of Infosys. 

Lightning Logistics, which operates under the brand name ‘Entoo’, is into the business of making available e2Ws, along with the riders, to e-commerce and food delivery companies. If a Swiggy delivery boy brings you food, chances are high that he may be an Entoo guy. 

Recently, speaking at a meeting on adoption of electric vehicles in Tamil Nadu, which was organized by the Delhi-based company, Climate Trends, M Vidyashankar, Head-Logistics, Lightning Logistics, said that the company’s business model is to get ‘paid per order’.  

The company was started in September 2020 and describes itself as “born electric”. It today employs 4,500 riders and is a “hyperlocal” logistics services provider. 

Challenges

Entoo vehicles typically run within a 5 km radius but are on the move most of the time. Vidyashankar said that the business had several challenges like charging. For example, if normal charging is used, then each vehicle could lose about 4 hours in charging. If fast charging is opted for, then the vehicle’s battery management system would have to be very robust, which adds to the cost of the vehicles. Nor is battery swapping a good option because each vehicle is different. 

Furthermore, “spreadsheets and real life are far different”, he said, adding, for example, that if a vehicle stays idle for a month for want of replacement of a component, it will affect the economics of operations. 

Numeros Motors, has been producing e2Ws for under a year now, as learnt from industry sources. The manufacturing facility is at Narasapura, near Bengaluru. The company sells all its vehicles, under the brand name ‘Diplos’, to Lightning Logistics.  

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