You can’t miss Cargi B. The City of New York’s first e-cargo bike, whose name was plucked from an online poll, looks like a miniature UPS truck f

Tiny Electric Trucks Are Coming to a Bike Lane Near You

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2024-05-15 14:00:12

You can’t miss Cargi B. The City of New York’s first e-cargo bike, whose name was plucked from an online poll, looks like a miniature UPS truck from the back and a golf cart from the front. Emblazoned with the white and green Department of Transportation logo and just three feet wide, Cargi B has a Richard Scarry–esque cuteness, an apple car in a city full of 18-wheelers and box trucks. And on one blustery April day, I took the four-wheeler for a test drive under the watchful eyes of a handful of DOT employees.

Cargi B is harder to get going than I expect; it takes a few heaves, much like biking uphill. But once the pedal-assist clicks on, its weight becomes bearable. Turning a corner is a lot more unwieldy than I’m used to: I get stuck a few times, underestimating the distance I need to turn, and a DOT employee has to help me get out of a tight spot. But once I get the hang of it, I’m cruising. And I’m a bit jealous. DOT employees now have this alternative to trucks for smaller jobs and supplies. But it’s also a glimpse of how the agency hopes to transform delivery for everyone.

“New Yorkers hate to see big trucks in our street, but at the same time, they’re ordering online a lot more,” said Ydanis Rodriguez, the city’s transportation commissioner. That dependency on delivery has only grown, with a daily onslaught of 2.4 (some say 3.7) million packages dropped off at doors every day. Cargi B is a prototype that could meet that demand; unlike commuter cargo bikes with their back wagons or even the Amazon tricycles we’re used to seeing, it’s “longer, wider, and able to hold more weight to have all of those boxes,” Rodriguez said.