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How EVs are solving the last-mile problem

2023-07-14

Moving large loads from regional warehouses to cities is a familiar process. The last-mile problem arises when the orders are then delivered to individual customers. The distances may be short, but the streets are narrow and congested. And pressure in cities is growing, not only to reduce vehicle emissions by electrification but also to reduce the visual and acoustic impact of delivery vehicles.

Cost pressures are important, too. Space in cities is in short supply and therefore expensive to rent or buy. Warehouses take time to build, and may go on to become less useful as demand patterns change. Finally, there are the customers. Once, they might have been willing to pay a premium for 48-hour delivery. Now they expect next- or even same-day delivery at little or no extra cost.

Introducing last-mile distribution centers

The last mile demands low costs and emissions plus high flexibility and efficiency, all at the same time. It really is a challenge. EVs have already been identified as one part of the solution. The other is last-mile distribution centers. These accept a truck-load of individual orders for rapid transshipment onto EVs for delivery to the customer.

Centers like this need not be large or permanent. Neither do they need a lot of equipment. They can be like small pop-up depots, rented for perhaps a few days or even hours with little capital outlay.

How the model works

[The model works like this," says Niklas Persson, Business Engineer Manager at VPG. [Customer orders are picked and packed in a traditional logistics center. They are grouped first for delivery to individual last-mile centers in tightly defined city zones, and then for delivery in the most efficient order to the customers."

[At the last-mile center, the grouped deliveries are rolled off the truck and directly onto the EV for transportation within the tightly defined zone. The center does not need much space for storage, because consignments enter and leave in one movement. In fact, all the center needs is a flat floor and a power supply for recharging the EVs. That is what makes the solution so agile – and economical."

Orders are made up individually in logistics centers and transferred in bulk

Last-mile distribution centers are simple and economical where real estate is costly

Orders are transferred from truck to EV

The lift table positions the goods precisely for safe and ergonomic transfer to the EV in the correct delivery order

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How EVs are solving the last-mile problem

Unobtrusive little electric delivery vehicles (EVs) are disrupting the logistics business, as part of an exciting new solution to the last-mile problem. They are the final link between customers and the mega-warehouses and heavy trucks that are the backbone of modern logistics.