Lithium Survey: 88 per cent corporate executives would use office transportation if sustainable

Bangalore (Karnataka) [India], April 1 (ANI/NewsVoir): COVID-19 has redefined lifestyle habits for many around the world with conscious choices being made towards integrating sustainability in their everyday routine, particularly for those working from home. With the lockdown extending for more than a year, the environment has had the time to bounce back while corporates have had to realign their sustainability goals and give back to society in a more meaningful way.
Lithium Urban Technologies, a corporate sustainable mobility solutions provider, administered a survey among the corporate community in India with the aim to assess their preference for sustainable mobility and electric vehicles in light of the pandemic. Over 3500 respondents shared their views from 7 cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Pune, Jaipur, and Hyderabad.
Commenting on the survey insights, Sanjay Krishnan, Founder, Lithium Urban Technologies said, "It is safe to conclude that sustainability has hit the mainstream with a clear behavioural change seen in a corporate consumer since the onset of the pandemic and the lockdown. The insights from this survey are indicative of the fact that the younger generation will be the key stakeholders in influencing the general sentiments among their peers and older generations towards sustainable mobility as a long-term solution and investment. Moreover, an increased interest towards adoption of EVs clearly implies that pandemic has strengthened the belief of being environmentally conscious while keeping in mind cost-effectiveness."




A sense of revelation was highlighted with regard to vehicles being off the road during the lockdown - 80 per cent of respondents observed a drastic dip in pollution levels, and 52 per cent realized that most travel was unnecessary as their work carried on without any disruption.
Having taken the opportunity to increase self-awareness towards sustainability, a significant 69 per cent of respondents feel that they have increased their efforts to adopt a more sustainable way of living since the onset of the pandemic. Interestingly, those residing in Mumbai (85 per cent) and Bangalore (68 per cent) have a higher claim towards living a more sustainable lifestyle, compared to those residing in Delhi (62 per cent) and Chennai (50 per cent).
Though most of the respondents had an improved outlook towards sustainability, 41per cent of respondents stressed upon the fact that there is a need to adopt a more sustainable lifestyle going forward.


When asked about the respondents' companies' policies on sustainability, 55 per cent of them claim that their company has sustainability-related goals, while 19 per cent of respondents are not aware about their organisation's commitment to sustainability. Amongst them, a higher percentage of those working in medium to large enterprises believe that their company is more conscious about the environment (>75 per cent), than those working in smaller enterprises (<52 per cent).


While only 17 per cent of respondents claim that their office provides an option for sustainable mobility, Bangalore was seen witnessing the highest provision of sustainable mobility by offices which is much higher than the national average. The insights also stress upon the fact that there is a willingness from the respondents to shift towards sustainable mobility solutions as a whopping 88 per cent believe they would be more likely to opt for office transportation if it were in an electric vehicle format.


COVID-19 has caused a massive shift in the daily commuting preferences - from 44 per cent of respondents using public transport and 36 per cent using their own vehicle to commute to and from work prior to the pandemic, to only 15 per cent willing to use public transport and 65 per cent willing to use their own vehicle in the post COVID world. A significant change is seen among Gen Z respondents with only 50 per cent of them sticking to public transport as compared to the pre-COVID era. City-wise, Delhi retains the highest percentage of residents who wish to use their own vehicle which stands at a whopping 75 per cent. On the other hand, Mumbai tops the charts in the usage of public transport with increased willingness to use shared vehicles or carpools.


Overall there is an increasing preference for electric vehicles especially amongst the younger generations with close to 80 per cent of respondents having shown willingness to purchase an electric vehicle with higher preference being from the male respondents as compared to the female respondents with cost-saving and environmental sustainability being the top reasons for their purchase. On the other hand, it is important to note that the reason for 20 per cent of respondents who do not wish to purchase an electric vehicle is the lack of proper supporting infrastructure in our country, particularly in the form of charging stations.
Lithium Urban Technologies owns the largest fleet of EVs in the world outside of China. It is India's first zero-emission service, with its own fleets of Electric Vehicles (EVs) and associated charging infrastructure, backed by a strong technology platform that involves telematics, fleet management systems, scheduling, rostering, and analytics-based optimisation; and trained and certified drivers. Lithium also owns and operates India's largest EV charging network spread across 7 cities in India. As a socially conscious company, Lithium is the only transportation company to have received the ISO 26000 guidance on social responsibility. Having covered almost 100 million kilometres to date it has abated about 20,000 MT of Co2e. Lithium's institutional investors include LGT Capital and International Finance Corp (a World Bank Group Co). Lithium is a recipient of several national and global awards including the prestigious The Financial Times/IFC Transformational Awards 2019 in London.
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