From Electrek.co
By Micah Toll
E-commerce giant Amazon has found a simple solution to replace thousands of its van deliveries: smaller electric cargo bikes and good old-fashioned walking.
The first city to see Amazon make the switch is London, where the company is beginning a trial with electric cargo bikes – but these aren’t your typical two-wheeled electric cargo bikes. In fact, they aren’t even the common delivery e-trikes we’ve seen before.
These are four-wheeled electric cargo bikes that look similar to a miniature delivery van, but use an e-bike drivetrain for propulsion. That means the driver is actually a rider who sits on a bike seat and pedals the vehicle to engage an electric motor that magnifies his or her pedaling force. Ultimately, most of the power comes from an electric bicycle battery, though the rider does add a fair amount of pedaling power too.
The vehicles are usually limited to a maximum speed of 25 km/h (15.5 mph), which is generally sufficient for delivery purposes in crowded city centers.
