Transport for London (TfL) has announced the winners of its first-ever e-cargo bike competition, which saw 16 models come under the spotlight.
Run as part of TfL’s work to encourage more fleets to use e-cargo bikes for deliveries, the competition used a panel of eight judges – including London’s Walking and Cycling Commissioner Will Norman and representatives from Sustrans and community cycling groups – to assess each bike on areas including affordability, comfort, security, style, capacity and manoeuvrability.
The Best Cargo Bike – Business category saw Douze’s G4e bike take the top spot, praised in particular for its manoeuvrability and comfort. Bicicapace Pelican and Harry Vs Larry Bullitt were also highly regarded in this category.
The event also included a Best Cargo Bike – Families category which assessed bikes which are suitable for carrying children in line with TfL’s work to promote cargo bike use as an alternative to car journeys for families with young children. The Bakfiets Long won this category and scored highly for its affordability and ease of use. Bicicapace Justlong and Bakfiets Short were also highly regarded in this category.
The competition has been held as e-cargo bikes increasingly come under the spotlight as a means to counter the growing number of freight vehicles on the capital’s streets, which have increased by 20% since 2010.
Already this year, the Government has launched its e-Cargo Bike Grant, which enables fleets to sign up to receive a share of a total £2m funding for the acquisition of e-cargo bikes, in a move to support greener last-mile deliveries – with the funding cap now increased to £200k. Meanwhile the Co-op has launched an e-cargo bike home delivery service in London.
And earlier this year, the Government published its Future of mobility: urban strategy, which will explore whether new types of vehicles including e-scooters and e-cargo bike trailers could and should be made legal on UK roads.
Christina Calderato, TfL’s head of transport strategy and planning, said: “Switching trips from motorised vehicles to cargo bikes on London’s roads is essential if we are to tackle some of the biggest challenges facing the capital. Anyone choosing to ride a cargo bike rather than going by car or van is directly contributing to cleaning up the air we breathe. There is also a huge range of other associated health, practical and economic benefits around choosing to travel in this way.”
