Urgent Couriers has imported five Urban Arrow electric cargo bikes from the Netherlands to service clients in Auckland’s City Centre and inner-city suburbs, replacing its city car fleet.
The aluminium-framed bikes have a 250-Watt motor and can carry up to 125kg in a lockable waterproof cargo box on the bike’s front.
The e-cargo bikes have been proven in markets around the world, Urgent Couriers managing director Steve Bonnici says.
He believes they will be the first of their type to operate in New Zealand and he hopes courier companies in other cities around the country will follow suit.
The e-bikes will service an area extending to Herne Bay, Grey Lynn, Kingsland, Morningside, Mt Eden, Newmarket and Parnell, replacing five cars which, along with their drivers, will be deployed elsewhere by the company.
“This will provide faster deliveries as the bikes will be able to use the cycle lanes and not be constrained by traffic,” Bonnici says.
“It will reduce road congestion and it’s also great news for the environment.”
The bikes cost just over $64,000 in total, Urgent Couriers receiving a $20,000 grant from the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) towards the cost.
EECA technology demonstration fund manager Dinesh Chand says Urgent Couriers received the funding through the EECA’s Technology Demonstration Project programme that supports businesses to implement an innovative energy efficiency opportunity.
“Technology Demonstration Projects must reduce greenhouse gas emissions, be applicable to multiple businesses in a sector and be financially viable,” Chand says.
“The light car fleet is responsible for around 20% of New Zealand’s emissions, so innovative projects like these are vital to decarbonisation, and we hope to see more organisations embrace new ways of working and getting around.”
Bonnici says the Auckland Council has also been very supportive of the project and will provide parking for the electric cargo bikes and charging stations in the basement of Te Wharau o Tāmaki Auckland House at 135 Albert Street.
“Auckland Council is also an Urgent Couriers client for mail deliveries,” he adds. “We hope other clients will embrace the electric cargo bike service the way the council has.”
Auckland Council corporate support services general manager Robert Irvine says: “Reducing transport emissions across Tāmaki Makaurau is a key action in Te Tāruke-ā-Tāwhiri: Auckland’s Climate Plan, and it’s great to see businesses like Urgent Couriers being innovative when it comes to doing their bit.
“The council has been steadily transitioning over to an electric fleet and we now have the infrastructure in place that enables us to support Urgent Couriers in this initiative that will not only reduce its carbon emissions, but also help to ease congestion in the CBD.”
Bonnici says several factors meant the time was right for the introduction of the e-cargo bikes, including the availability of proven cargo bike technology, changes to roads and parking spaces in inner city Auckland that give bikes an advantage over cars, and the changing nature of courier deliveries from documents to bulkier parcels or fragile items like cakes.
“Urgent Couriers was a pioneer of cycle couriers and at one stage had 11 cycle couriers delivering documents around Auckland’s Central Business District,” he says. “But the progression of information technology has reduced the demand for physical document deliveries, especially by law firms, and Urgent Couriers now has only a few traditional cycle couriers in the city.”
Former Urgent Couriers cycle courier Max Hampton has been appointed e-bike fleet manager responsible for recruiting staff and managing the logistics of the new service.
Hampton says cycle couriers are a breed, but the electric cargo bikes will obviously require less pedal work.
“On average a cycle courier will cover 60 to 100km a day,” he explains.
“The bikes’ dual batteries have a range of 100km so the charge will usually last a full day. Safety will be paramount as the bikes themselves weigh 50kg and with a rider and full load the combined weight could be up to 300kg and they can easily keep pace with CBD traffic.”
Hampton says no parking restrictions apply to the electric cargo bikes and there is enough room on Auckland CBD footpaths for a bike to be parked against a building while couriers do pick-ups or deliveries.
The e-cargo bikes are fitted with GPS tracking devices for security.
Certified carbon zero, Urgent Couriers will take 40 to 50 tonnes of carbon emissions annually out of inner-city Auckland as a result.
