These four-wheeled electric cargo bikes could replace delivery vans in your city

Instead of delivery vans clogging up the streets of your city, package delivery could soon be handled near you by fleets of four-wheeled cargo e-bikes with spacious van-like rear ends. That’s already the case in many European cities, and now it could be spreading even farther around the globe thanks to a new partnership between Zoomo and EAV.

Zoomo is a full-service commercial micromobility platform with the stated mission of “electrifying every urban mile.” Zoomo’s platform covers a wide range of light electric vehicle hardware including e-bikes, e-mopeds & e-cargo bikes, plus the telemetric systems that enable the company to manage its sprawling fleets.

This week Zoomo announced that it has partnered with EAV, a manufacturer of four-wheeled cargo e-bikes, to further expand its vehicle offerings available on the Zoomo platform.

The EAV cargo bike may not look like most electric cargo bikes that you’re familiar with. That’s because it combines electric bike operation (pedals, handlebar, e-bike mid-drive motor, etc.) with 2 cubic meters or 70 cubic feet of rear storage space.

Carrying a maximum of 150 kg (330 lb.) of cargo, the EAV can effectively replace many cargo vans used for last-mile delivery. And it can do it in a much smaller vehicle that fits into a bike lane.

This type of cargo e-bike has the potential to replace the millions of vans congesting cities all around the world. EAV’s cargo bikes are one of the largest bicycle-based delivery solutions on the market, yet take up a fraction of the space of a cargo van or box truck.

The design was built to efficiently navigate urban landscapes and enable commercial delivery companies to make more deliveries in a shorter amount of time by accessing cycle lanes and safely navigating through pedestrian-heavy spaces.

And now with the newly announced Zoomo partnership, that’s looking even more likely. The partnership will see Zoomo expand its product portfolio by becoming EAV’s Official Fleet Partner. Zoomo will offer financing for EAV’s range of vehicles alongside their maintenance guarantee and telematically-enabled fleet management software.

In addition to the Europe Union, Zoomo currently operates in the US, Canada, Australia, and the UK.

Zoomo solutions are used by many large companies in urban logistics including Amazon, FedEx, UberEats, Doordash, JustEat Takeaway, Deliveroo, Domino’s, Pizza Hut, Gopuff, Getir, Flink, Purolator, Hived, and more.

As Zoomo cofounder and CRO Michael Johnson expanded upon the partnership:

“We are bringing the vehicle leasing model from the automotive space to light electric vehicles. By integrating different vehicle types into our platform, like EAV e-cargo bikes, with leasing, servicing and telematically enabled software solutions, we are able to provide customers in urban logistics with a one- stop solution for all their delivery fleet needs.

EAV’s cargo bikes are highly innovative and will enable us to offer more efficient and sustainable fleet solutions to our customers in existing and new segments, like parcel delivery.”

Adam Barmby, founder and CEO, EAV, added:

“Zoomo are perfectly placed to support the take up of EAVs in city centers across the world, and drive the positive difference that we’re pushing for. We are thrilled to have a like minded partner on our mission to revolutionize the last mile, and to create cleaner, safer cities.

This partnership maximizes our complementary expertise – with Zoomo’s servicing, financing and software making the switch to light electric vehicles a simple step for our shared customers. Meanwhile, we will continue to ensure every single vehicle meets the highest specifications for build and rider- experience, as we innovate on solutions which further reduce the cost and the emissions impact of urban logistics.”