Mercedes-Benz eSprinter Tech Demonstrator Gets Cargo Bike Sidekick for Last Mile Delivery

The German carmaker is a major player on the cargo transport market, selling a series of vans that are used all over the world: Sprinter, Vito, and Citan. They have been around for ages, it seems, and are reliable and a lot more accessible than a passenger Merc, but they, too, are in need of upgrades from time to time.

Knowing the transportation needs of the future will be completely different than they are today, and with an increased focus on eco-friendly operations, Mercedes launched in 2021 a special version of the eSprinter (the electric variant of the world-famous van) called SUSTAINEER.

That's a contraction of the words Sustainability Pioneer, and we're talking, in essence, about a technology demonstrator meant to test "innovations and technical solutions" that may make it into production sometime in the near future.

SUSTAINEER came into the news several times since its unveiling, and it once again does this, but not on account of some new feature it was gifted with. What brings the van back under the spotlight is a new cargo bike that's meant to help it with last-mile delivery.

The idea behind this cargo bike sidekick is pretty simple. The eSprinter is meant to do what it always does, transport goods. Yet, instead of taking the goods right to the door of the ones who need them, thus making multiple and very long trips, it can meet up with a fleet of cargo bikes on the way, transfer the goods, and let the final delivery to the front door of the two-wheeled vehicles.

Mercedes is not imagining this at an intellectual level alone, and it even partnered with a Berlin-based bike maker called Onomotion to demonstrate the concept.

Onomotion is currently making two versions of a bike it calls Ono, namely the Cargo and Allround. Naturally, it's the Cargo version we'll be focusing on because that's the one Mercedes is using to advance its delivery-related ideas.

The Ono Cargo is an electric bike that features a weatherproof cabin up front, to hold and protect the rider, and a container at the back where the goods are stored. Each container has a capacity of two cubic meters (71 cubic feet) and can support 200 kg (441 pounds) of cargo.

The bike is powered by a 1.4 kWh swappable battery that gives it a range of 25 km (16 miles), and it has an additional pack on board for daily operations. The batteries can be charged from a standard plug.

The way it is supposed to work in conjunction with the eSprinter is pretty simple. The Mercedes van is equipped with a lifting arm that has been specifically tweaked to lift the Ono containers. Two of them can be stored inside the van (when configured as a long panel van with a high roof) and transferred onto the bike in a matter of minutes, with no human hands-on required to lift them (other than holding the transmitter that activates the arm, that is).

That means the eSprinter can load two cargo bikes at set points on the delivery route, and then move on to its next assignment. The bike, on the other hand, will travel to wherever they need to deliver the goods.

Mercedes sees a number of advantages to such an approach, and at first glance they do seem like pretty solid arguments.

Using cargo bikes as a last-mile delivery solution works in both urban areas, where crowded streets may impact a van's ability to reach a destination, but also in rural ones, where some distances could be better and more effectively covered by bikes. That, in turn, shortens the delivery time.

Then, the concept is applicable to all sorts of deliveries, from couriers to service providers. The van would act as a mobile micro-depot from where bikes load themselves, meaning there will be less need for storage facilities and staff.

Mercedes-Benz does not say how long it actually tested the concept, but on paper the thing seems solid enough to work. It's unclear at this point whether the German company actually plans some sort of partnership with Onomotion at this point.

This is not the first idea Merc tested on the SUSTAINEER, and some of them are already being considered for production. The list of such ideas includes hardware to combine heating and cooling inside the cabin to reduce energy consumption, and a particulate filter integrated into the front module to target the "ingress of the particulates caused by wear from tires, brakes, and asphalt."