Electric delivery vehicles come in all manner of different sizes, from nimble motorbikes up to cavernous full-size trucks. But getting good to their final destination in the fastest speed possible isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. Sometimes you need big and small vehicles.
That’s why Volta Trucks and electric motorbike firm Cake have teamed up to trial a new ‘mobile micro hub’ to ensure last-mile deliveries are as clean as they can possibly be. Basically, it uses an electric truck to deliver electric motorbikes to a city so they can deliver parcels to you.
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The new hub takes the form of a Volta Zero electric truck that has been converted into what the firm describes as a ‘mini warehouse’ on wheels, which features a number of Cake e-motorbikes loaded into the cargo area. The Zero then drives into a city, where the Cake bikes are then deployed to complete the delivery.
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The two Swedish firms will test the project in Paris, France early next year in a partnership with fashion giant H&M Group. They claim that it could allow deliveries to involve zero tailpipe emissions all the way from the warehouse to the customer.
The Zero mobile micro hub can be redeployed to a number of locations around a city as required, and can also carry replacement swappable batteries for the Cake bikes, allowing for even more efficient city-wide coverage.
Volta chief executive Essa Al-Saleh said: “Most of our customers are using trucks to deliver from out-of-town warehouses to inner city stores. But as a forward-thinking brand, we’ve always sought innovative partners to deliver new and industry-redefining solutions.”
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Cake boss Stefan Ytterborn noted that with an increasing number of cities looking to ban diesel vehicles, “e-commerce consumer brands need to engage in future-proof concepts now.”
He added: “Solutions need to be developed to offer lower emissions and less congestion, while benefiting from far more efficient deliveries all the way to the end customer. This innovative mobility ecosystem that the three brands are trialling is setting a clear direction for both healthier cities and business advantages.”
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