Delivery giant Evri plans UK’s largest electric cargo bike fleet

Dedicated parcel delivery giant Evri has laid out plans for a 99-strong electric cargo bike fleet within the next year. Part of a £19 million investment in sustainability, Evri will also be expanding its 168 fleet of EVs to 270 vehicles.

The firm currently operates an electric cargo bike fleet of 33 but the planned expansion would make it the UK’s largest such fleet, it reckons. Even more encouragingly for the industry, Evri’s cargo bike commitment goes a lot further than that – as part of wider plans to reduce carbon emissions across its network and become a net-zero company by 2035, it plans to grow its fleet of electric cargo bikes to 3,000 over the next decade.

Evri has established a dedicated “final-mile electrification taskforce” which will spearhead innovative solutions, explore partnerships, and implement strategies to transform last-mile deliveries into a zero-emission operation. The last mile of delivery is an enduring significant challenge for delivery and logistics companies, contending with congestion, increased customer expectation, the proliferation of online retail as well as increased sustainability objectives.

In the view of CIN, Evri’s electric cargo bike ambitions are significant and could have wide reaching implications for the last mile sector. A huge operator like Evri making this move is likely to influence similarly large last mile players. Perhaps even more significantly, the move will likely lead to a greater support network for the eCargo bike sector – an issue picked out by sector specialist Zedify as holding development back.

Evri already has electric cargo bikes operating in London, Bristol, Oxford and Cambridge and the company currently delivers 1.5 million parcels a year, by bike or EV. The business aims to triple that number to around four million over the next year. These deliveries are part of the more than 720 million parcels that Evri delivers each year – of which more than 99% are on time.

Evri CEO Martijn De Lange said: “Pedal power will rev up our efforts to reimagine parcel deliveries in the UK as we aim to become the biggest operator of e-cargo bikes in the sector. We achieved a 9% decrease in carbon emissions since last year. The £19 million investment announced today will lay the groundwork for Evri to dial up on its ambition to become the UK’s most sustainable parcel carrier.”

The permanent fleet of electric cargo bikes deliver the “last mile” of urban parcel deliveries — moving a parcel from a local transportation depot to its destination. Each bike has a capacity of about 2,000 litres, meaning it can deliver around 110 parcels in one go. With zero tailpipe emissions a single parcel delivery by eCargo bike can be expected to produce up to a 250g carbon saving alone. The growth to delivering 4 million parcels a year by eCargo bike could save carbon equivalent to the amount created by driving over 400,000 miles, potentially reducing air and noise pollution as well as helping with congestion on the roads.

The company also plans to replace diesel vehicles used on its ParcelShop, and SME collection routes. Evri will add 148 EVs to its fleet, before its busy Christmas period this year, with a further 122 joining the fleet in spring 2025. This commitment will see electric vans account for over half of its ParcelShop drop-offs and collections. To support these vehicles Evri will continue expansion of its own EV charging infrastructure investing over £1 million in this across its depot network and hubs.

This will be complemented by the significant expansion of its ‘out of home’ (OOH) estate. Evri’s OOH network is currently believed to be the largest in the UK with more than 15,000 locations which include Tesco Express stores and Post Office branches.

The wider sustainability team has already delivered a 21% carbon reduction per parcel for financial year (FY) 23-24 with this down to 370g per parcel delivered. This is beyond the 10% reduction per parcel achieved in FY 22-23, and a 9% absolute reduction in spite of volume growth. Earlier this year, Evri achieved Silver EcoVadis rating, which places the delivery company among the global top 15% percent of companies rated for sustainability. Furthermore, 100% of electricity consumption across Evri sites is backed by Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO) certified renewable energy sources.

Pauline Potter, Director of Procurement and Sustainability at Evri, added: “Evri is committed to making a positive impact on the environment and delivering a sustainable future. Our multi-year ESG plans represent a significant leap forward, and we are confident that these initiatives will propel us towards our net-zero goal. We are not just investing in technology, but also in our people, empowering them to be part of the solution. Together, we can build a more sustainable future for the parcel delivery industry, as well as the communities we serve.”