You don’t have to get rid of your delivery van all at once. For many urban business owners, a combination works better: the cargo bike handles short trips in the city center with light loads, while the delivery van is reserved for heavy, bulky, or long trips. Whether this division works for your business depends on your trip profile, which you can thoroughly assess in advance.
This picture is also reflected in the real-world experience of governments experimenting with e-cargo bikes. After conducting its own trials, the West of England Combined Authority concluded that E-cargo bikes are not a complete replacement for delivery vans, but they work well for many deliveries. In urban areas, bike lanes and easy parking help, and they work best as part of a broader fleet strategy. That experience comes from a region in the UK, but the approach is useful: look at it on a per-trip basis, not per vehicle.
Why a hybrid fleet often makes more sense than a complete replacement
A hybrid fleet consisting of a cargo bike and a delivery van allows you to make the transition step by step. First, you shift the trips where the cargo bike is clearly the best fit, and keep the van on standby for anything that doesn't fit in the cargo bike's cargo area.
This way, you can test what works in your own operations without completely overhauling your schedule all at once. Would you like to know exactly what a full transition would mean in the first month? We’ll break that down in The calculation example: from a delivery van to a cargo bike. This article is about the intermediate form: both vehicles side by side.
Which trips will you switch to the cargo bike?
Start with short trips on busy or low-traffic streets that don't require carrying much weight. That's exactly where a cargo bike can save time on parking and detours.
For CargoX, these are the strict criteria you must use to evaluate your trips:
- Baking pan size: 100 cm long and 70 cm wide.
- Charging capacity: A maximum of 100 kg in the container.
- Range: up to 80 km. The conditions under which this applies are not specified. So, when factoring in cargo, wind, and cold, allow for a generous margin.
Rides that often fall well within those limits:
- Packages and small deliveries in the city center, with many stops close together.
- Service visits by installers or facilities staff who primarily bring tools and small parts.
- Catering and delivery services within a limited area.
- Trips to locations where it's difficult to park or load and unload a bus.
Want to learn more about which rides you can actually skip? Then read Which trips can you eliminate in urban logistics?.
Which routes will remain with the delivery van?
The bus remains the logical choice whenever the load, distance, or type of cargo exceeds the cargo bike’s specifications. Don’t force those trips onto a bike.
Consider:
- Shipments weighing more than 100 kg or larger than what fits in a 100 × 70 cm container.
- Long drives to the outskirts of the city or beyond, where you're pushing the range to its limits.
- Large items such as long pipes, sheets, or bulky equipment.
- Trips where you have to carry a lot of stuff at once that you can't spread out over multiple trips.
| Type of ride | Often matches | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Short trip, downtown, light load | Bakfiets | Bike paths and easier parking near the address |
| Many stops close together | Bakfiets | Less time spent looking for a loading and unloading spot |
| Heavy or large cargo | Delivery Van | Exceeds 100 kg or the CargoX's cargo compartment dimensions |
| Long-distance or outside the city | Delivery Van | Lower risk of a limited range |
| Large delivery to a central location in the city | Combination | The bus delivers the supplies; the bike covers the last few meters |
Scheduling charging times when you use both vehicles
In a mixed fleet, you need to plan for two types of charging: reloading cargo and recharging batteries. If you coordinate the two, your day will run more smoothly.
Goods: Have the bus deliver the inventory
A powerful combination is the bus as the lead vehicle and the cargo bike for the final kilometers. Many European cities are testing or using this approach, according to the European Commission's Urban Mobility Observatory micro-hubs or consolidation centers to handle the last mile in densely populated city centers using cargo bikes.
A pilot program in Oxfordshire, England, went one step further. There, Temporary local depots were tested that were restocked by delivery vans, so that cargo bike couriers could pick up packages closer to their delivery area. In that pilot, the number of daily cargo bike rounds more than doubled, without any additional bikes or couriers. That’s just one pilot with its own specific setup, so it’s no guarantee for your business. It does, however, demonstrate that buses and bicycles can complement each other.
In practical terms: see if you have a designated spot in or near your work area where the truck can unload its cargo. This could be your own facility, a customer’s location, or an agreed-upon transfer point.
Batteries: Charge at set times
Schedule charging for times when the bike is already parked, such as during lunch or at the end of the day. The City of Colchester advises users of its e-cargo bikes to Charge it when there is still 30 to 60 percent capacity remaining, avoid charging and storing the battery in temperatures that are too hot or too cold, and unplug the charger once the battery is fully charged. Charging their bikes from empty to full usually takes about four hours. These figures apply to their bikes, so be sure to check the manual for your specific model.
You can read more about charging options in electric cargo bike charging: at home, at work and on the road.
What does a mixed fleet mean for management and maintenance?
Two types of vehicles mean two types of maintenance, insurance, and planning. Sort that out in advance, and you’ll prevent the cargo bike from becoming an afterthought.
- Schedule: Decide which vehicle is the default for each trip type. That way, no one has to choose again every morning.
- Service: A cargo bike requires a different repair shop than your van. The West of England Combined Authority noted that, in its region, the number of repair shops with experience working on large cargo bikes is still limited, although it is growing. Therefore, check in advance where you can go in your region for maintenance and repairs.
- Insurance: Make sure your bicycle has its own coverage. The STOER bicycle insurance offers replacement-value coverage, no deductible in the event of theft, and 24/7 assistance.
- Security and Parking: Make sure there is a designated, secure place to park and charge the bike, even if it's parked next to the bus on your property.
- Contingency Plan: Agree on what will happen if the bike is in for maintenance. In a hybrid fleet, the bus can temporarily cover those trips.
Is the number of cargo bikes growing? If so, there’s more to consider when it comes to maintenance planning and allocation. That’s what this guide is about manage a cargo bike fleet.
Here's how to start mixing and matching
Start small and see how it goes. A few weeks of actual rides will tell you more than any estimate made beforehand.
- Keep a log of your trips. For a few weeks, record the distance, weight, and dimensions of the load for each trip, as well as how long it took you to find a parking spot.
- Select the candidates. Choose trips that weigh less than 100 kg, fit within the cargo dimensions, and are well within the range.
- Test with a real load. Bring some representative items with you on a test drive. You can find tips in Cargo bike test ride with a load.
- First, move one route. Let the bus handle the remaining trips and evaluate the situation after a few weeks.
- Expand or adjust. If it works, you'll handle more trips. If a route doesn't work, it goes back to the bus.
In short: the question isn't "bus or cargo bike," but rather which trip is best suited for which vehicle.
Not sure if the CargoX is right for your trips? Schedule a test drive at a dealership near you. Would you like to use a bike for business purposes without making a major purchase? Then you can Leasing a CargoX through New Mobility Lease. Do you have a specific question about how to use this in your business? Get in touch.
