A new electric cargo bike range – the Raleigh E-Cargo – will be available in the UK and Ireland from September.

Working with businesses and local authorities, the bike manufacturer says it will offer a personalised service with financing options available. There will also the opportunity to brand the e-cargo bikes with company logos and messaging.

The Raleigh E-Cargo bikes are designed to carry up to 100kg in weight and have a range of up to 75km (46 miles) on one single charge.

Lee Kidger, managing director of Raleigh UK, says that its new e-cargo bike range will enable "businesses, local authorities and individuals to adopt a low carbon transport solution, save on fuel costs and set a new standard for sustainability".

“Now more than ever we need to look at the way we deliver goods in both urban and rural settings to reduce congestion and our carbon footprint, the E-Cargo range provides the perfect solution for last mile delivery services.”

Training will be offered to UK businesses as well as the ability to co-brand the bikes to suit the business needs.

Funding was awarded to 18 local authorities in May, from the £2 million ‘eCargo Bike Grant Fund’ by the Energy Saving Trust. 

Councils across England were invited to bid for up to £200,000 each to purchase e-cargo bikes for use by local businesses or deployment within their own fleets

Additionally, funding was allocated through the fund’s national scheme offering limited companies and organisations up to 20% grant funding towards e-cargo bikes.

Successful applications to the local authority scheme offer a broad range of initiatives, said the Energy Saving Trust.

Cambridgeshire County Council plans to deploy 30 e-cargo bikes across four initiatives in Cambridge covering first mile deliveries, a residential sharing scheme, a ‘try before you buy’ leasing scheme and a pool of e-cargo bikes.

Devon County Council’s work will encourage the uptake of e-cargo bikes across partner organisations to support sustainable active business travel as an alternative to car and van use.

The Raleigh e-cargo bike range launch comes just after Electric Assisted Vehicles (EAV) launched its second e-cargo bike, the 2Cubed, which has a larger payload and incorporates a separate chassis-cab unit.

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