This is an interesting one. As more businesses and regular folk order and purchase items online, receiving your purchases has become a more important aspect of our daily lives. UPS, working in conjunction with Fernhay, are testing Fernhay's eQuad (and eWalker) electric vehicles as a solution for "last-mile" deliveries. Last-mile deliveries are those that take place from the warehouse or store to a home or business. In congested and dense urban areas, delivery vans don't often fit (easily) and their ICE engines reduce air quality and are, in some places, banned from entry. Fernhay's eQuad EVs are one solution. The eQuad is only 33 inches wide and can be used in urban bike lanes. The eQuad can travel about 40 miles on each charge and top speed is limited to 15 mph. Each eQuad can carry over 450 pounds. Parcels can be picked up at warehouses, stores, and using Fernhay's EcoDelivery Hub Cube system (below) for eventual delivery. The eQuads have been proven in Europe where space to maneuver can be very tight and the video after the "read more" jump is from the City of Dublin extolling the virtues and uses of eQuads (and eWalkers). If you live in a large city, you could be seeing these little EVs downtown real soon.
Source: Fernhay/UPS - Media release, pics, and City of Dublin video
