The limitations of electric cargo bikes – a systematic literature review

Purpose - The aim of this paper is to discern the knowledge from the literature by conducting a literature review to provide ECB users with insight into the limitation of ECBs that affect their penetration and the relationships among these limitations themselves and the advantages of ECCs; and secondly, to outline directions for further research. Design/methodology/approach - During the systematic review process, a search protocol was developed after the initial snowball sampling process. Then keywords regarding cargo bikes are used to find the potential papers on Scopus. Afterwards, 42 scientific journals papers and 29 conference proceeding papers published in English were selected. Finally, 17 papers are excluded according to specific criteria by reviewing the contents of the selected papers. Findings –Seven limitations of ECCs regarding payload capacity, battery range, riding speed, charging time, terrain adaptability, the possibility of defect/malfunction, and service monotony were identified from the literature. The interacting relationships among these limitations showed that the deterioration of one limitation can have negative impact on other limitations. More importantly, the improvement of one limitation may have negative impact on other limitation. In addition, the changes in both directions (improve/deteriorate) of the limitations can also overshadow some of the advantages of ECCs. Finally, research gaps and relevant further research directions were identified. Originality/Value - The results of this paper provide insights with academic and practitioners. To our best knowledge, this study is the first paper to investigate the interacting mechanism among the limitation of ECBs themselves and the advantages of ECCs, which enriches the knowledge of ECCs in the existing relevant literature. From the practical perspective, the review paper provides stakeholders with a theoretical support for the understanding and decision-making on the adoption of ECCs, potentially reducing the concerns and reservations against the adoption of ECCs. Practical implications - When deciding to introduce ECBs, logistics service providers (LSPs) are suggested to focus on the ECB's cargo capacity and battery mileage according to the specific service market. The above two parameters will not only affect the initial investment, and mid-term operation economy but also affect the later maintenance cost. At the same time, the LSP should adjust the above two parameters according to the terrain of the operating environment. In addition, optimising space-saving loading and packing operations are even more important than conventional transportation modes in urban logistics because the low use of vehicle capacity will reduce the effectiveness of last-mile logistics. It is also important to note that not all limitations of ECCs hold equal significance for ECC users. Hence, users must learn to differentiate which limitations to ignore and which limitations to address based on their specific circumstances.