Ecofleet

Ecofleet is a London-based start-up who provide efficient delivery services that beat the traffic, reduce pollution and cut the number of cars and vans on the road. Founded in 2019, the company currently operates 20 large ecargo bikes, with seven full-time riders and four part-time riders. Typically, the ecargo bikes pick up goods such as wine, cheese, gift baskets and subscription boxes from clients and deliver them to their client’s customers in multi-drop deliveries.

Ecofleet also offer white-label (client branded) delivery services and same-day delivery, which is popular with plumbers and builders for delivering building supplies and spare parts quickly.

Funding from the eCargo Bike Grant Fund has given a boost to the business. After successfully applying to the scheme, Ecofleet were awarded £13,650 and have gone on to purchase 20 ecargo bikes. Backing from the scheme has given the company confidence in their cause to help reduce carbon emissions in London.

Ecofleet also understand the importance of on-boarding riders properly. All their riders have Bikeability Level 3 cycle training, paid for by Ecofleet.

The ‘Triobike ecargo bike’ is the  organisation’s vehicle of choice as the bikes can easily bypass traffic, are more stable than trikes and more agile than trailers. These couriers can make 60 to 65 deliveries a day in London using the bikes, compared to 12 deliveries a day by van.

The front-loading ecargo bikes purchased by Ecofleet have a 623 litres load capacity and payload of 120kg – the equivalent of 102 bottles of wine.

The bikes can be powered for 60 miles on one battery charge and each bike carries a spare bike battery and spare phone battery as phones are used for navigation.

Since receiving the grant, Ecofleet have saved at least £18,000 on fuel costs compared to using a petrol or diesel vehicle. This does not include the additional costs which have been saved on congestion charges, ULEZ charges, parking expenses, and parking tickets. Between December 2019 and March 2020, Ecofleet accumulated 12,600 miles on their ecargo bikes, saving five tonnes of CO2 compared to a diesel van.

One of the lessons Ecofleet have learnt during the process is that there are not many insurance providers for ecargo bikes, a market opportunity that would support the growth of this sector.