Electric cargo bikes significantly reduce costs for logistics companies

Reduction of CO₂ emissions

09. April 2024 1:08 p.m. Robert Klatt

Logistics companies can significantly reduce costs and reduce CO₂ emissions with a combined fleet of cargo bikes and electric vans.

Eindhoven (Netherlands). According to TomTom, traffic is getting slower and slower in many cities. New measures, including a congestion charge in New York, higher parking fees for SUVs in Paris and a ban on combustion engines in Copenhagen, aim to reduce traffic volumes and emissions in the coming years. This not only concerns individuals, but also logistics companies, which currently mainly use delivery vehicles with a combustion engine.

EIT InnoEnergy, a company supported by the European Institute of Innovation and technology (EIT), an institution of the European Union (EU), therefore examined how electric fleets of cargo bikes and electric vans affect transport companies. logistics. Analysts led by Jennifer Dungs included both CO₂ emissions and costs in the study.

Combined fleet reduced costs and CO₂ emissions

According to the study, logistics companies with a combined fleet of electric cargo bikes (60%) and electric vans (40%) can deliver two billion packages per year in so-called last mile logistics, compared to a fleet composed solely of electric vehicles. -vans You can already save 95 euros per year. The cost advantage would increase to 390 million euros by 2030. In the optimized scenario with electric cargo bikes (80%) and electric vans (20%), the savings in 2030 would amount to 554 millions of euros. Furthermore, in the optimal case, CO₂ emissions would decrease significantly (-80%).

“Logistics service providers face many challenges at the same time: increasing parcel volumes, stricter regulations and the need to reduce costs in a low-margin industry. The study shows that electric cargo bikes are not only a sustainable solution to these challenges, but also a competitive and profitable option for large logistics companies – today and even more so by 2030.”

The study also shows that total costs per package decrease with the use of electric cargo bikes, regardless of fleet composition and city. In the best case scenario, logistics companies will save 0.20 euros per package delivered by 2030 thanks to electric truck wheels.

Reduced traffic in cities

In addition to the economic benefits for businesses, switching to electric cargo bikes would also have great benefits for cities. In total, 120,000 delivery vehicles would be eliminated in the 100 largest European cities. This would greatly ease traffic and avoid traffic jams. Additionally, electric cargo bikes would significantly reduce electricity requirements compared to electronic delivery vans, easing pressure on local power grids.

“Cities and logistics providers are very interested in working together to realize the potential of mixed fleets. There are excellent opportunities to develop public-private partnerships to optimize infrastructure planning and ensure that the benefits in terms of sustainability, land use and cost savings are fully realized. This study aims to provide European decision-makers with advice on how to manage growing parcel volumes, maintain profitability and make last mile delivery more flexible and sustainable.