‘E-cargo bike sightings to become commonplace’

Danny Tennant from Alder Bar Sheffield helping load up beer barrels with Russell Cutts of Russell's Bicycle Shed Deliveries

“It costs us about 1p a mile to power an e-bike,” he says. “And whereas it might take your van driver up to an hour to drive into the city centre, find somewhere to park, then carry the delivery to wherever they want to go and get back again, it’ll take us about 20 minutes, and we can go literally door to door.”Sheffield Council estimates there are now around 50 electrically assisted cargo bikes operated by local businesses, taking parcels, letters, medical equipment, goods deliveries, food and much more.Russell’s Bicycle Shed have recently launched their e-cargo bike delivery businesses, carrying computers, paperwork, bike parts and mechanic’s kit, and PCR tests for urgent analysis in London, using a range of bikes for deliveries up to 130kg or 620 litres. Their Neepsend location outside the Clean Air Zone means organisations can drop off items there to be delivered by bike into town without any CAZ fee.A link with the Intercity Railfreight company, who transport small items via passenger trains, means Covid tests and other urgent items can be picked up in Sheffield and dropped off on a train for same day delivery to most other UK towns, at a fraction of the cost of making the delivery by traditional diesel van, says Russell.

Recent weeks have emphasised the need for companies to think again about traditional van deliveries, he believes, with fuel prices rising and the scarcity of drivers meaning the cost of hiring a van or HGV driver can reach £250 a day.

The increase in home deliveries struggling through on street car parking means that van deliveries to many local residential areas are also becoming increasingly inefficient, he says. “The fact that we can make deliveries into the Clean Air Zone, and other parts of Sheffield, in an efficient and cost effective way puts us at an advantage over the more traditional idea of taking a van into town,” says Russell. “Vans are more effective on longer journeys, so all I’m saying to local companies is why not use your van drivers more efficiently, and use us to save time and money when you need to deliver to the city centre or for other short journeys.”

Darren Jarvis with a paperwork load for the 'medium' e-cargo bike from Russell's Bicycle Shed Deliveries

The A Different Gear community bike shop in Heeley reckon they’ve sold about 40 e-cargo bikes since making their first sale three years ago, with greengrocers, photographers, food banks, takeaways, churches, doctors and even a blacksmith seeing their benefits.

“Many more organisations have already expressed an interest in purchasing an e-cargo bike for their business, before the announcement of a clean air zone, which we feel will increase their urgency to explore the idea,” says Tori Gary of A Different Gear. “Sightings of e-cargo bikes in the city centre will become commonplace, leading to more businesses considering moving to that mode of transport too.”

Many local organisations, including Russell’s Bicycle Shed, were able to buy some of their bikes at discount thanks to an Energy Savings Trust grant won by Sheffield Council. There’ll be a new one month e-cargo bike try out CycleBoost loan scheme for local businesses run by the council starting around March next year, and it’s hoped there’ll be a new discount purchase scheme too.

Meanwhile, companies and families can try out a range of e-cargo bikes on loan from A Different Gear from £12 for half a day to £100 for a whole week. Cargo bikes were usually loaned out for one off tasks, says Gray, but now it’s mostly businesses working out which type to invest in themselves.

Russell Cutts believes the case is made: “Moving products around by cargo bike will become quite normal.”