London businesses turn to two wheels to beat traffic and save planet
As businesses look for ways to both beat the traffic and cut their carbon emissions, cargo bikes are an increasingly common sight on the streets of London. While the UK has lagged behind some other European nations in adopting the vehicle, sales of E-cargo bikes are going from strength to strength in the UK market. "We can get through the traffic faster, we can get across town quicker", says Joe Sharpe, co-founder of green logistics company Zhero.
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00:00 Another day in London, another day stuck in traffic.
00:05 The UK capital is among the world's most congested cities,
00:09 and this frustration is encouraging a growing number of businesses
00:12 to move from vans to electric cargo bikes.
00:16 Joe Sharp is the co-founder of one such company, working in logistics.
00:21 We can get through the traffic faster, we can get across town quicker.
00:26 Ultimately it's cheaper for the folks who pay to use our services,
00:31 who might be doing 30, 40 deliveries a day on a cargo bike.
00:35 A van, 8 to 10.
00:38 Xero's carbon-free model has helped it carve out a particular niche,
00:42 transporting artworks.
00:45 There was a movement inside the fine art world to be more transparent
00:48 about the environmental impact of making art, showing art, exhibiting art,
00:54 and we as a company slotted quite nicely into that fine art world at that time.
01:01 The environmental benefits are an aspect the local government wants to encourage.
01:06 Transport for London estimates the move towards cargo bikes
01:09 could save up to 30,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions a year.
01:14 Individual traders are also making the change.
01:17 Plumber Ben Hume-Wright switched his Ford pickup truck for an e-cargo bike in 2021
01:23 and hasn't looked back.
01:25 He still owns the old vehicle, but it's taken on a different function.
01:30 Several times a day I come back to the van, which has become a glorified shed
01:37 in order to load up with any other bits I need for my six or seven jobs of the day.
01:44 I've just found that doing jobs by bike has been so much faster.
01:52 At bigger installations, Ben gets suppliers to deliver bulky items directly to the client.
01:58 But most of the time he gets by with just the tools he can load onto his bike.
02:03 And he's found improvements in his mental health too.
02:07 I find that being stuck in traffic like this can make me feel quite pressured.
02:14 If I need to get in a certain amount of jobs in a day, if I'm running late for an appointment,
02:19 I know on my e-bike exactly when I'm going to arrive to the nearest minute or two.
02:24 Located in a warren of railway arches near London Bridge Station,
02:27 fully charged is one of the UK's leading retailers.
02:31 CEO Ben Giaconnelli says growth in the UK has been astronomical.
02:36 Every day in the paper there's another thing.
02:39 London's traffic has grown to a halt.
02:42 Fuel prices have gone through the roof.
02:44 Ules, pollution, this, that, it's just everything.
02:47 It's like a pyramid that has basically built the market for e-bikes.
02:52 Despite the growth, the UK still lags behind some other European nations in cargo bike adoption.
02:58 Germany is the continent's largest market, with Denmark and the Netherlands not far behind.
03:05 But with a 30% increase in UK e-cargo bike sales in the year to May 2023,
03:10 it's clear that the market is continuing to shift through the gears.
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