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Tech firm Port said it had empowered London’s last-mile industry to switch to electric after launching an EV hub – a group of electric vehicles locked and charged in dedicated docking stations.

The ‘dark hub’ has been launched with parking firm Q-Park at its Leicester Square car park and enables couriers and delivery firms to rent small delivery EVs, such as electric bikes, cargo ebikes, mopeds and scooters, from a Port location.

The EVs can be hired on a weekly or monthly subscription through the Port app and the vehicle, parking, charging, maintenance and software are all provided by the firm.

The EV is returned to the hub at the end of the day and is charged and ready to be rented the next day.

Port claimed that its scheme would also encourage more drivers to enter the industry at a time of courier shortages, because it taps into a suburban workforce currently not being utilised by the industry due to problems covering long distances between homes and the city centre.

It also said it had successfully trialled the initiative in Madrid and that Barcelona was next on its list.

Kamil Suda, Port founder, said: “We are hugely excited to be launching our first Port dark hub in the heart of London.

“Electrification of the last mile delivery industry is both a great challenge and opportunity; we want to bring Port’s solution to every major city to help the sector reach net zero and fully capitalise on the benefits of small EVs.”

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