In December 2020, ‘Cyber Monday’ saw a record-breaking $10.8bn spent in a single day - the largest online shopping day in US history. It’s just one example of the continuing growth of e-commerce that is encouraging vehicle manufacturers and logistics companies to focus on solutions for making deliveries more efficient and environmentally sustainable.
The ‘last mile’ of a delivery is the movement of goods from a transportation hub to their final destination. Anyone who is familiar with the delivery ecosystem will tell you that this stage is the most difficult. It is also, however, the easiest to electrify. Commercial vehicles responsible for the ‘middle mile’ – delivery from the depot to the stores – are large and have to be capable of travelling long distances. They require very heavy, expensive batteries and range anxiety becomes more of an issue for long-haul journeys. That’s why vans are the next frontier on the electrification front. The technology...