The government has provided another £300,000 for the eCargo Bike Grant Fund. The scheme, which is run by the Energy Saving Trust, helps small businesses introduce e-cargo bikes into their everyday operations.
Originally launched in April 2019, the most recent instalment of the eCargo Bike Grant Fund invited organisations to apply for 40 per cent of the cost of an e-cargo bike, with a maximum of £2,500 available for two-wheel models and £4,500 for three-wheel models.
Applicants could apply for up to five bikes per organisation and could also submit joint ‘high-street’ applications for bikes shared between various businesses.
Applications opened on July 30, 2021 with a pot of £400,000 made available. They then closed on October 8 as the application threshold had been reached.
However, an additional £300,000 – enough to purchase up to 250 more e-cargo bikes – has now been made available for a subsequent wave of applications that was submitted on November 3.
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Head of transport at the Energy Saving Trust, Tim Anderson, said: “It’s motivating to see the success of the eCargo Bike Grant Fund so far with many new e-cargo bikes being purchased by businesses in England.
“We are confident that the additional £300,000 funding pot has provided more small businesses with the opportunity to make lasting changes to their last mile deliveries and transporting their goods.
“E-cargo bikes are an attractive low carbon transport option and offer impressive fuel cost savings, while contributing to improved local air quality – both of which are particularly critical as we continue to drive the low carbon transport agenda.”
Last year a study of GPS data from e-cargo bike delivery firm Pedal Me found that their bikes deliver about 60 per cent faster than vans in city centres.
The findings backed up what the firm had been saying for some time – that its bikes work out at least 2mph faster than vans with even more time saved looking for parking spots.
