Zero-emission vehicle adoption towards sustainable e-grocery last-mile delivery

In recent years, sustainable eco-friendly vehicles have been demonstrated as an adequate solution for urban deliveries and restricted areas facing traffic congestion and traffic zone limitation. Therefore, in this paper, a novel Decision Support System has been proposed for evaluating the efficiency of e-grocery home delivery through eco-friendly vehicle adoption. A mathematical model, formulated as Electric Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows and Partial Recharging (EVRPTW-PR), has been applied for selecting the best zero-emission vehicle for e-grocery home delivery. The comparison of the most emerging electric light-duty vehicles (e-cargo bikes, e-mopeds, and e-vans) has been carried out through key performance indicators related to the drivers’ salary, the total delivery time, the fuel (energy) costs, the vehicle investment costs, and the average payload capacity utilization. The overall evaluation encourages the adoption of zero-emission strategies and helps e-grocery commerce to adopt the best option that fits with the environmental as well as the economic aspects.