In the U.S. alone, transportation was responsible for 29% of total greenhouse gas emissions. It is just recently that the automotive industry has begun making the switch to more eco-friendly, electric alternatives.

The need to find new and innovative ways to conserve our planet has never been more important, and if the last couple years has taught us anything, it’s that delivery services will always be needed. When exploring the last mile delivery industry more in detail, you’ll notice that the world truly is shifting to online commerce. The online market has seen a 65% growth over the last year. Beyond that, 70% of restaurants’ orders are now done and delivered via an app. With this exponential growth, emissions have compounded, leaving us with very few solutions. One of which being electrification. We asked, why has this industry yet to explode? And what’s been stopping fleet operators from making the switch to electric?

We found that there are four critical flaws in the current infrastructure which need to be addressed. First, existing solutions are cost-prohibitive, and consumers are unwilling to spend more to cover egregious delivery costs. The next three problems, however, all reside around the delivery companies themselves. First and foremost, recharge times. The recharge times are too time-consuming, in an industry where time is of the essence. Second, the range of the vehicles. Current market needs often require the wheels to be spinning all day, and battery ranges are not quite there yet.

Finally, as the old saying goes, time is money. Slow scooters make it hard for these companies to justify the expenditure, as lower speeds equal fewer deliveries. This is where Leaf Energy comes into play.