Comment: Why EVs are essential for last-mile delivery

By John Gillan, UK general manager at last-mile delivery platform Stuart

Following COP28, there is a heightened focus on businesses, with consumers and regulators calling for action, not empty words. The need to become more sustainable impacts every corner of our economy, alongside wider society.

Electric vehicles are a crucial step in decarbonising global supply chains and can be especially transformative in the delivery space. As the demand for sustainable delivery services increases, EVs will become critical to building the green cities of the future, reducing congestion and emissions without impacting the volume of deliveries.

For the last-mile logistics sector, supporting couriers to make the transition to EVs is a necessary step. This sustainable switch will not only benefit the environment but will also increase the efficiency and resilience of our sector in the long term.

Making the switch to EVs

At Stuart, we enable our clients to connect to independent couriers via our platform. In this way, businesses can maintain their own customer relationships while providing efficient and professional delivery services.

Therefore, if our courier partners switch to EVs, it will allow our clients to decarbonise a crucial part of their business and supply chain. Providing sustainable solutions for our clients is one of our major priorities, as outlined in our Sustainability Report, and we are committed to supporting our courier partners’ transition to EVs.

This goal has its challenges, however. For many couriers, transitioning to EVs may be challenging due to steep upfront costs. To address this, Stuart offers financial support and incentives to independent couriers through discounts, subsidies, or lease arrangements. In addition, we have introduced programmes encouraging independent couriers to voluntarily retire older, more polluting vehicles in favour of cleaner alternatives, such as EVs. Onboarding more bicycle couriers for short journeys forms part of this approach. Finally, we provide ongoing technical support and guidance on maintaining and servicing EVs.

These steps make EVs more accessible and attractive for our courier partners. In the long term, this will enable them to meet ever-tightening emissions standards, continue to operate in the Low Emission Zones being introduced in cities across Europe, and save financially on petrol as fuel costs remain volatile.

Last-mile technology logistics businesses must play their part by championing the transition to EVs for courier partners if they are to promote more sustainable practices and set up their businesses to thrive in the future.

Collaboration is key

It is not the sole responsibility of logistics companies to support couriers’ transition to EVs. Businesses can preferentially work with logistics providers with robust sustainability practices and utilise EVs, thereby supporting sustainable logistics practices. They can invest in initiatives such as offering grants or subsidies to facilitate the electrification of delivery vehicles. By setting robust sustainability requirements for their suppliers and logistics providers, businesses can encourage the adoption of low-emission delivery practices and EVs throughout the supply chain.

Regulation is also an important component of this. The Government must step up for small businesses struggling with inflation, supply chain issues, and rising running costs to ease the burden and encourage more sustainable delivery practices. Offering incentives in the form of tax breaks or subsidies for EV adoption and other eco-friendly practices could help to make this switch more accessible.

Infrastructure investment is also a necessary piece of the puzzle. Convenient and reliable access to charging points make EVs a feasible business solution. Cities still have a long journey ahead to build the components necessary for EV adoption.

Ultimately, net zero targets can only be met if businesses work together with governments to encourage changes such as the transition to EVs.

Resilience

With rising sea levels, heatwaves, and freak storms becoming increasingly regular, it is clear that we must make many changes to address climate change. The cities of the future need to find a way to provide the amenities and conveniences that we demand while protecting the environment.

The collective action of business players and industry actors, as they work to decarbonise global supply chains, will go a long way to achieving this. Fostering sustainable switches, such as the adoption of EVs, is an active vote for a more resilient society that will serve future generations.