Leading automaker Bajaj Auto Ltd (BAL) said on Tuesday it is investing about Rs 57 crore in shared e-mobility service provider Yulu to transform urban commute in India.
Yulu will source from Bajaj electric two-wheelers which have been co-designed and manufactured exclusively for shared micro-mobility. Bajaj will also consider facilitating the vehicle finance needs of Yulu for a large-scale deployment of its micro-mobility electric vehicles.
Consumer adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) has been limited due to practical factors like range anxiety and availability. On the other hand, improving asset utilisation of the existing class of vehicles with shared mobility platforms has not been able to reduce the dual problem of traffic congestion and pollution in a significant way.
With its Internet of Things (IoT) enabled EV fleet and machine learning-driven network intelligence, Yulu is solving the demand-supply problem and growing its footprint in a sustainable manner.
Through its early partnerships with mass rapid transit systems like Metro, Yulu layers commuter patterns on top of its network intelligence bringing high availability and convenience to its customers. This technology-driven approach is key to continuously increase operational efficiency and help reduce traffic congestion in a meaningful way.
"In Yulu we find an experienced and committed partner with robust achievement of success metrics in a very short time," said BAL's Managing Director Rajiv Bajaj. "This is why we decided to partner with them in their journey of bringing Yulu service to every neighbourhood of urban India," he said in a statement.
Amit Gupta, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Yulu, said succeeding in the shared micro-mobility business is incumbent upon creating winning partnerships to ensure assured supply of high-quality electric vehicles in large numbers.
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"Yulu is the leading electric micro-mobility service provider that requires reliable, durable and comfortable electric vehicles to serve its customers, hence a committed manufacturing partner is crucial to our success. In Bajaj, Yulu finds this strategic partnership and it is a win-win relationship," he said.
Yulu plans to increase its fleet size to one lakh electric two-wheelers by Dec 2020 with an extensive network of its battery-swapping stations across the cities where it operates. It aims to expand its services to eight megacities and select smart cities under the Smart Cities Mission.
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