The delivery hub will serve as the home base for a cargo-bike delivery service, which will leverage BrightDrop’s EP1 propulsion-assisted electric pallets. The EP1 is similar to a regular delivery pallet, but uses electric assist motors to make the courier’s job easier.
by Sam McEachern, GM Authority
General Motors subsidiary BrightDrop has partnered with the University of Washington’s Urban Freight Lab (UFL), The City of Seattle, and a handful of local tech and delivery companies to launch a new eco-friendly last-mile delivery hub.
BrightDrop says the delivery hub, located in Seattle’s Uptown neighborhood, is a “pilot program using zero operating-emissions technology to test new vehicles, delivery models and other technologies to help accelerate the development and deployment of sustainable last-mile solutions.”
The delivery hub will serve as the home base for a cargo-bike delivery service, which will leverage BrightDrop’s EP1 propulsion-assisted electric pallets. The EP1 is similar to a regular delivery pallet, but uses electric assist motors to make the courier’s job easier.
Additionally, the delivery hub will feature a common-carrier parcel locker, which will provide locals with a secure and contactless way to receive packages from major package carriers like FedEx or DHL. The hub will also feature a “neighbourhood kitchen” operated by local on-demand food service REEF, which will bring the local area “quick and low-emissions access to some of their favorite delivery restaurants,” BrightDrop says. REEF, in short, is a localized operator of so-called “ghost kitchens.”
The delivery hub is made possible thanks to partnerships with local tech-focused delivery companies AxelHire, REEF and Coaster Cycles. AxelHire offers same-day delivery in the Seattle region, while REEF will operate the hub’s neighbourhood kitchen. Coaster Cycles is a provider of electrically-assisted delivery bikes.
“BrightDrop is proud to work alongside these like-minded organizations at the neighborhood delivery hub to test the feasibility of a more sustainable last-mile perishable goods delivery service,” said BrightDrop strategy and operations manager, Bob Tiderington. “We see this as an opportunity to encourage people to step into a place of imagination to consider the world of delivery and logistics not as it is, but how it could be sooner than later.”
“At a time when less contact is more, BrightDrop’s EP1 is designed to help reduce package touch points, costs and physical strain on the labor force.”