Southampton City Council is to trial a scheme that will let organisations borrow and try out electric cargo bikes to see if they can offer a practical and greener solution for urban deliveries.

 

The council received almost £50,000 from the government's eCargo Bike Grant Fund and has bought five Tern GSD S00 e-bikes and five Urban Arrow flatbed e-bikes equipped with lockable boxes capable of carrying up to 100kg.

The scheme will run in partnership with Eastleigh Borough Council, and the funding bid was made with The Hub Cycleworks and Monty's Bike Hub, supported by Zedify Southampton.

Zedify Southampton will be in charge of maintaining the bikes and managing the scheme.

Zedify is a national zero emissions delivery service which uses an all-electric fleet of specially adapted cargo bikes, trikes and vans to serve the needs of local businesses, national brands and local authorities.

Southampton's Zedify operation provides several delivery services to the council, as well as to local companies such as the Bitterne Box Company.

"I hope local organisations will be inspired to take advantage of these new e-bikes and do their bit to sustain in the long-term some of the positives we've seen over the past year," said cabinet member for green city and place Cllr Steve Leggett.

David Munday, owner of The Hub Cycleworks and Zedify Southampton, said: "We passionately believe that zero emission delivery via electric cargo bikes is the right answer for so many businesses in the Southampton and Eastleigh area. The national Zedify group has over 10 years' experience of servicing customers from national logistics companies to local businesses. In running this fleet for the council, we can give businesses the opportunity to try out the capabilities of electric cargo bikes and, in doing so, reduce their operating costs, help tackle congestion and improve air quality across the region."

Nick, operations manager at Zedify, loads a bike trailer with Bitterne Box Co veg boxes