Ingka Investments have made a minority investment in DST, the largest electric vehicle (EV) operations platform in China. The capital will be used to add new capabilities to its digital platform, expand its maintenance network and enter international markets.
Ingka Group has set a goal to become climate positive by 2030, and an important part of this is cutting CO2 emissions in all stages of the value chain, including home deliveries. In 2018 the company announced that all customer deliveries and services will be done using electric vehicles or other zero-emission solutions by 2025.
“We are delighted with this new minority investment in DST, as it’s another step in enabling IKEA Retail to continue providing last mile EV delivery services to our customers, continue to improve on our customer promise, while also reducing our environmental footprint. IKEA Retail China has been closely working with DST since 2019, in cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Changsha and Zhengzhou. Their EV vehicles provide one third of transport capacity for IKEA customers and have supported cities like Shanghai in already achieving 100% electric deliveries,” says Krister Mattsson, Managing Director of Ingka Investments.
Founded in 2015, DST provides EV operation and management services for logistics companies and offers rental services for electrical trucks and vans. DST offers EV charging, fleet repair and maintenance, insurance and other auxiliary services and its online digital platform allows clients and drivers to monitor vehicle and battery data and collect route information, enabling EV life-cycle management and improving operational efficiency.
Haiying Zhang, founder of DST, says, “We will continue to build our digital platform and expand our operations network. We aim to increase the value of our services through vehicle life-cycle management, further increase vehicle efficiency and fully capture the value of data and digitization. Our ambition is to standardize the intra-city logistics EVs and increase the efficiency of China’s new energy industry. In addition, DST is entering new and international markets. By leveraging our online platform and offline service capabilities, we aim to build a world-class digital platform for new energy logistics vehicle management.”
DST currently operates and manages a fleet of close to 40,000 EVs covering 200 cities in China. DST’s network covers 8000+ service stations, 150,000 charging piles and 400+ maintenance suppliers. They are pushing the industry forward by setting standards for the entire industry, from working with the EV manufacturers on efficient design to building charging infrastructures and battery reuse and recycle systems with logistics companies.
The investment is the latest in a series of investments made by Ingka Group that will strengthen its core retail business by investing in innovative companies in areas such as digitalisation, customer fulfillment and sustainability.
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