In Barcelona, the distribution of goods in vans and trucks is responsible for 23% of the city's total traffic, as well as up to 34% of the main emissions responsible for poor air quality, according to data from the Logistics Cluster of Catalonia. . Among all this traffic and polluting smoke, electric bicycles are beginning to appear for last-mile delivery. They are especially known in the world of home delivery, but their use for the transport of small – and not so small – parcels is gaining speed, according to the latest annual report on the urban distribution of goods from the Observatory of the Metropolitan Mobility.
“Cargo bicycles have a transport capacity similar to that of a van and can be transported with them to washing machines or refrigerators,” says May López, development director of the Companies for Sustainable Mobility forum. “They are a clear trend in view of what is happening in other European cities and there is no doubt that they are going to have more and more prominence,” says the expert. To the already known advantages of this method of transport – the absence of emissions of polluting gases and greenhouse gases, as well as its low acoustic impact – we must now add its lower economic costs.
In a recent study by the EIT InnoEnergy (belonging to the European Institute of Innovation and Technology), it has calculated that “mixed fleets of bicycles and electric vans can save urban logistics providers significant costs compared to a fleet composed 100% of vans. electrical”. Specifically, it is estimated that for a company with a delivery fleet with 60% electric bicycles and 40% electric vans, the total cost per package in 2023 was 0.05 euros lower than that of another with a fleet of 100% electric vans. For a large logistics operator that delivers 2 billion packages a year, these cents translate into annual savings of around 95 million euros.
With electric bicycles, the main barrier to the electrification of last-mile transport is also overcome: the higher acquisition cost of 100% electric or plug-in vans compared to combustion engine vehicles. “They are more expensive, and the owners, who in many cases are self-employed, cannot bear the higher acquisition cost,” laments Óscar Pulido, responsible for fleet electrification at the European Federation of Transport and Environment (Transport
“Until now there was little supply of vehicles and, now that there is, they are not penetrating due to their higher price, so the market share of electric vehicles is still very low,” acknowledges Xavier Codina, mobility expert at the consultancy Anthesis Group. Both Pulido and Codina urge to continue providing aid to encourage the purchase, as well as to streamline its management and payment because “once the initial investment has been made, the cost of operating with these vehicles is generally cheaper,” says the spokesperson for Transportation
The penetration of bicycles and tricycles in parcel delivery is also still low, around 1%, although it is growing at the same time as companies and businesses that are dedicated to delivery with less bad smoke. . “The last operator, the urban one, is usually the most sustainable and the one that opts for solutions such as the delivery by bicycle or of goods that have been previously unloaded at night in urban warehouses,” explains Ana Solà, executive director of the sector consultancy. of transport and mobility Cinesi.
