The Irresistible Rise of Cargo E-Bikes

Businesses and consumers in densely populated areas of the U.S. are increasingly likely to get a delivery via a cargo e-bike like the one pictured here, and the opportunity is attracting participation from operators in other countries, where the practice is more common.

These are not the “cargo bikes” commonly seen on the streets of San Francisco, for example, which are mostly for delivering food and personal cargo (mostly kids). The new breed of cargo e-bike is capable of carrying up to 550 lbs., and is designed to serve deliveries of non-food items such as Amazon parcels, office supplies and other B2B purchases.

In March 2024, New York City authorized the use of e-cargo bikes on city streets, after a pilot project started in 2019 to determine feasibility. "Achieving a safer and greener transportation future includes reducing the number of large, high-polluting trucks on our streets," said NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez. "Authorizing these new delivery options will better protect our environment and all road users."

London-based Fin, a sustainable logistics and last-mile delivery provider, intends to enter the NYC market early in 2025, building on its success in London. The company operates more than 100 e-cargo bikes and 100 electric vans to deliver between 7,000 and 14,000 parcels throughout London daily, and plans to expand into five additional U.K. cities in 2025. The expansion to the U.S will mark the company’s first venture outside the U.K.

Fin’s CEO Rich Pleeth says it’s a better, faster, more sustainable and lower cost solution than that offered by the incumbents — DHL, FedEx and UPS. Fin as yet has no hope of putting any of those giant company’s large-van delivery services out of business, but it is growing, and has attracted substantial funding — the latest was a $7 million round of seed funding led by MaC Venture Capital, announced October 16. So the incumbents should watch out, Pleeth says. “They still see us as an ant, but a very annoying ant that won’t go away. We’re already taking some of their lunch; not all of it, but we will eventually.”

Pleeth says Fin can deliver parcels at a price that’s around 18-25% lower per package than anyone else in the market. The secret sauce is a technology for predictive insights into delivery demand and execution, and the company boasts a 99.8% service success, achieved across a recent 12-week period. It’s even starting to license out its technology to other delivery firms.

New York City is a perfect place to start, Pleeth says. “Manhattan is hugely dense, with 28,000 people per sq. km and a huge average salary, with heavy reliance on e-commerce,” he points out. It’s also likely that a delivery solution that offers less congestion and pollution will appeal to residents. Pleeth says there are other advantages, such as reducing package theft, and getting around restrictions on larger vehicles. He was “shocked” during a recent visit to New York to see how many parcels were left on the sidewalk while delivery drivers unloaded their traditional, big vans. “I’m surprised they don’t get stolen,” he says, adding that the larger delivery vehicles also tend to block lanes of traffic while stopped, making things very unsafe. “Things have got to change,” he says.

The NYC DOT would seem to agree. Its March 27 announcement authorizing the use of cargo e-bikes commented: “With a 68% projected increase in freight in the city, cargo bicycles are necessary to reduce our overreliance on trucks and larger vehicles for last-mile deliveries.” It estimated that two bicycles can replace one delivery truck with CO2 savings of approximately 14 tons per year, equivalent to 200 planted trees, or 30,872 passenger car miles traveled.