Transport Scotland launches eCargo Bike Research Project
Transport Scotland has selected eleven organisations to participate in the eCargo Bike Research Project, funded by TS and administered by Energy Saving Trust. The businesses and organisations will now trial an e-cargo bike free of charge for a year.
These trials will allow Transport Scotland and Energy Saving Trust to gather data and user experiences as they aim “to inform the potential of electric cargo bike use for addressing both business needs and the climate emergency”.
Among the selected organisations are the Edinburgh-based Farr Out Deliveries, a cargo bike courier service as well as Act Now. The organisation runs several projects aimed at promoting the coastal and countryside environment in Argyll and the Isles.
Ellie Grebenik, senior programme manager at Energy Saving Trust, said: “It is encouraging to see the breadth of applications supported by the eCargo Bike Research Project.” She added the project had been oversubscribed.
Transport Scotland has long included light electric vehicles in its funding initiatives. The eBike Grant Fund went into round four this July with almost a million pounds in renewed funding. The grant is available to assist the adoption of eBikes, eTrikes and electric cargo bikes in Scotland.
At the time, the Energy Saving Trust also offered previously funded e-bike grantees the chance to apply for a further £20,000 funding award for e-bikes for projects which support Scotland’s key and essential workers.
So far the program’s successes cover three previous rounds of funding which allocated £1.9 million to 104 projects, resulting in 875 newly acquired e-bikes and 41 electric cargo bikes.
Overall, Scotland is working towards phasing out combustion-powered cars by 2032. In 2018, the country mobilised millions for infrastructure as well as electric vehicles of all kinds. Scotland has also led the way with its use of zero-emission buses. As a part of the Scottish Ultra-Low Emission Bus Scheme, the government had announced it awarded a total of £7.4 million for the procurement of electric passenger buses by the end of September.
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