E-Moviliza completes electric logistics pilot program in Ecuador
E-Moviliza’s electric vehicle trials in Ecuador have followed the work of participating companies and local users, gathering information about how the vehicles performed in their logistics activities.
Several trials have concluded, through a comprehensive demonstration that, in addition to including electric vehicles, also incorporated the implementation of a cross-docking platform for consolidating, loading and unloading goods. In Rumiñahui, the electric tricycles will remain with the local recyclers’ association, allowing their use to continue after the pilot.
Testing vehicles within existing operations
Orion Cargo, Banco Pichincha and Signia used electric vehicles according to the needs of their own operations. Orion Cargo tested a Helmarv electric van, while Banco Pichincha and Signia worked with Jinma light electric vehicles. Their trials provided information about vehicle performance in real working conditions, contributing to the project’s assessment of the technical, financial and environmental feasibility of electric mobility.
Alongside the vehicle trials, 25 companies participated in the cross-docking platform pilot. They used the distribution centre’s facilities to try different ways of organising last-mile logistics, using charging points and gain practical experience with its operation. After 13 months of trials, this stage has come to a close, leaving lessons from the companies’ use of the centre that can inform future logistics initiatives.
Keeping the tricycles in use
The electric tricycles were tested by successive users in Calderón, with an additional trial in Rumiñahui. GPS devices and operational logs recorded the routes travelled, operating times and how the vehicles were used. This helped the team build a clearer picture of the logistics activities taking place and assess where light electric vehicles could be useful.
For the Association of Recyclers and Waste Managers of Rumiñahui, completing the trial will lead to continued use of the vehicles. Through an agreement with the owner company, the tricycles will remain permanently with the association for its operational activities. Users will be able to keep working with them and apply what they learned during the pilot.
Sharing what was learned
The experience from these activities has also been shared in discussions about electric mobility in Ecuador. The Electromobility Roundtable brings public authorities, businesses, academia and other organisations together to examine questions around charging infrastructure, regulation, financing and business models. E-Moviliza contributes experience from its last-mile logistics pilots, including information on vehicle operation, energy consumption, costs, infrastructure and range.
These topics connect the trials to decisions about whether similar activities could be expanded or repeated. The project also presented its work at the Technical Committee on Electromobility and Scrapping led by the Ministry of Environment and Energy as well at a sustainable mobility event hosted by the Universidad Bolivariana del Ecuador in Quito, where it shared pilot results and proposals for using light electric vehicles in last-mile activities, particularly delivery services and recycling activities.
The completed trials provide operational information for technical discussions as a base for possible regulations for these vehicles, including approval requirements and their circulation on public roads that will be shared with entities such as Ministry of Infrastructure and Transportation, National Transit Agency, among others. While in Rumiñahui the association will continue using the tricycles in its daily work.
The project "Support for the Transition to Low-Carbon Electric Mobility in Ecuador, E-MOVILIZA" is an initiative led by the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MAE), with the goal of accelerating the adoption of low-emission electric vehicles and reducing the use of fossil fuels, as well as greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and air pollution in the transportation sector in Ecuador. In this endeavor, the MAE works closely with the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transportation (MIT), ensuring a comprehensive approach to the transition to sustainable mobility in the country.
The project has been approved for co-financing by the Global Environment Facility (GEF7) and is based on a Cooperation Agreement between the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as the implementing agency and the Urban Electric Mobility Initiative (UEMI) as the executing agency, in collaboration with the National Polytechnic School of Ecuador and the Center for Sustainable Mobility of Chile.
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