Cargo Bike Trucks

The ask

Manufacture or assemble heavy-duty electric cargo tricycles in Bangladesh — capable of carrying 300–500 kg — and sell or lease them to urban delivery companies, wholesalers, and hawkers replacing polluting auto-rickshaws and vans in the congested lanes of Dhaka, Chattogram, and Sylhet.

Why now

Dhaka's average traffic speed has dropped to 7 km/h — slower than cycling. The government has been forced to ban heavy trucks from Dhaka's inner ring in daylight hours, creating demand for sub-3-metre cargo vehicles that can legally operate in the city core. Simultaneously, e-commerce delivery volumes are growing 25–30% per year; every major platform is paying 3-wheeler fuel surcharges that compound on razor-thin delivery margins. An e-cargo tricycle removes the fuel cost entirely. Chinese manufacturers (Yadi, AIMA) have proven the technology at under $1,000 per unit; local assembly with imported drivetrains can hit ৳60,000–80,000 per unit.

Why Bangladesh

Bangladesh has 1.2 million registered three-wheelers (CNGs and auto-rickshaws) plus millions of unregistered van-rickshaws already doing this job with human power. The transition from human-powered or petrol-powered 3-wheelers to electric cargo trike is a small cognitive and financial leap for operators who already understand the vehicle format. BRTC and local government bodies are also under pressure to green their city logistics; a lease programme targeting existing CNG operators — many of whom are owner-operators with access to microfinance — is a natural channel.

As a business

Two models: outright sale to logistics companies and traders (৳70,000–95,000/unit, margin ~30%), and a lease-to-own product targeting CNG operators at ৳3,500–5,000/month over 24 months (margin embedded in rate). Aftersales — battery swaps, spare parts, and maintenance contracts — is the recurring revenue that makes the business durable. A 500-unit fleet generates ৳2–3 crore per year in aftermarket alone.

Economics

Move the sliders to model your own cargo bike business. Defaults are order-of-magnitude estimates — pressure-testing them is part of what a founder pitches us.

What ZEPH would back

A founder who combines manufacturing credibility (an existing metal-fab or vehicle-assembly background) with a channel into the CNG owner-operator or e-commerce delivery community. The unit economics are tight at small volumes; we'd want to see a distribution agreement with a logistics platform or a BRTC pilot before funding a factory run. Bonus if the founder has already imported a test unit and has 20 committed pre-orders.

Impact

Each electric cargo tricycle replacing a CNG auto-rickshaw in Dhaka avoids approximately 2–3 tCO₂e per year, based on CNG combustion of ~1.8 kg CO₂e/km against BPDB grid at ~0.6 kg CO₂e/kWh. At 500 units sold per year the annual CO₂ saving exceeds 1,000 tCO₂e while reducing particulate and NOₓ emissions that cause an estimated $1 billion in annual health costs in Dhaka. The aftersales service network generates 1 FTE per 30–50 units in the installed base, creating skilled technical jobs that outlast the hardware sale. Domestic assembly displaces some import cost, partially retaining the vehicle's FX value in Bangladesh.