Cargohopper, a tiny electric "train," does deliveries in the Netherlands
Cargohopper - Click above for image gallery
It may not be flashy – or an EU Star Wars vehicle with a similar name – but the Cargohopper is saving fuel over in the Dutch city of Utrect. This little electric train – pulled by a tractor that is powered by a 48 Volt 28 hp electric motor – can move three metric tons and "is able to do the work of 5 to 8 regular (European sized) vans." WIth all three trailers attached, the Cargohopper is 13 meters (43 feet) long. The Cargohopper can only go 20 kilometers an hour (12 mph), but that's OK because it is used solely as the last step of packages intended for downtown Utrect. The idea was based on tourist trains that look similar and are used in other European cities.
Here's how it works: On the outskirts of town, the trailer containers are loaded at operator Hoek's distrubution center and then brought to the border of the inner city via standard truck. From there, the EV loads the containers on its wheeled wagons and then trundles off to the shops where the goods are needed. On its way back to the outskirts for more goods, the Cargohopper carries recycling materials from businesses. The operators claim that the Cargohopper removes up to 100,000 Van kilometres from Utrect's inner city streets and saves about 30 tons of CO2 per year by displacing roughly 20,000 liters of diesel fuel. Not bad for a little train. Thanks to Stefan S. for the tip!
Gallery: Cargohopper
[Source: Cargohopper via Minds In Motion]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Laurens 10:51AM (7/16/2009)
When calculating the cost per ton CO2 saved, this is one of the multiple rediculous initiatives in my "taxpayer subsidises everything green" homeland.
Do not try this at your home!
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mike 12:00PM (7/16/2009)
I'm not following you.
Are you saying that the train costs more to operate than the trucks and is only being done by the company because the government is subsidizing it as a green project with tax dollars?
Or is the company itself not a private company and partly or wholly owned by government?
- Mike
Bert Roozendaal 6:19PM (7/16/2009)
I am afraid you got it all wrong. Cagohopper is about the only green initiative in The Netherlands that does not run on public funding. It is just a green substitute for distributing already done by vans and its exploitation is completely commercial. So do try this at home!
Bert Roozendaal 6:26PM (7/16/2009)
Sorry Mike,
Cargohopper does not run on tax dollars neither on public funding. The government is not subsidizing it. It is a strict commercial operation. And as far as the costs: it replaces five vans so the total costs of operation are more or less equal because it saves also on manpower. So, Cargohopper is absolutely a private enterprise en not owned by any government.
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Electricnick 7:53PM (7/16/2009)
It's utrecht, not Utrect.
But very interesting post.
The Electricnick.com team.
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Branko Collin 6:40AM (7/19/2009)
Actually they did get subsidy, but only after they had started. The money was offered by a minister during the official start, and apparently came as a complete surprise to the founder. http://www.ttm.nl/nieuws/id25344-cargohopper-krijgt-160000-euro-subsidie.html (Dutch)
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