BiciCarga

About

BiciCarga deploys electric cargo bikes for last-mile deliveries in Bogota to reduce transport pollution and increase efficiency. The partnership between Nutresa, LOGYCA, and Despacio tested collaborative distribution models between private sector stakeholders through a cross-docking platform where electric trucks bring the products and consolidate them into the e-cargo bikes for last-mile delivery.  

The platform, powered by solar energy, is used to deliver products (parcel, packaged and refrigerated food) with e-cargo tricycles. It provides financial information and data to assess smart energy management and last mile operations to scale-up its approach. Additionally, BiciCarga assessed aspects such as Smart energy management, location for urban freight operations, and deployment, reducing the higher cost of last-mile logistics. 

During the pilot’s first phase, the partnership replaced two trucks and four motorcycles with eight electric bikes, avoiding 1.97 tons of CO2. During the second phase, four additional e-bikes replaced two trucks, saving 1.62 tons of CO2. Through efficiencies, BiciCarga also reduced 2.3 hours on daily working hours of drivers. It also increased the number of deliveries made per hour by 67% and the number of deliveries per kilometer by 63%. 

The partnership created a financial model to identify the conditions under which the use of tricycles or electric cargo bicycles is more efficient and sustainable than the use of conventional fleet (combustion fuel trucks), identifying that when there is a high density of customers, companies should use cargo bikes.  

This approach is key to meeting Colombia’s NDC commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 51% by 2030. Currently, 48% of GHG emissions in Bogota come from the freight transport sector, which is why BiciCarga aims to start with decarbonizing the last-mile urban freight sector.