Discover how Egypt’s Shift EV is helping fleet owners overcome cost constraints in the transition to electric delivery vehicles with HSBC support.

Getting goods from ‘A’ to ‘B’ is a fundamental aspect of any consumer economy. Supply chains regularly involve long journeys, sometimes across multiple countries and continents, to take products from creation to consumption. But over half of greenhouse gas emissions generated across supply chains occur in the so-called “last mile” — the relatively short distance from warehouse to point of purchase.

A proven method to tackle last-mile delivery emissions is to convert petrol delivery vehicles to electric ones. The obstacle here however, especially in developing economies, is the significant capital required to upgrade delivery fleets.

However, Egyptian venture capital-backed start-up, Shift EV, identified a solution to overcome this barrier to going green. Facilitated by HSBC, the team at Shift EV work with clients to retrofit minivans and delivery trucks with their in-house designed and manufactured lithium-ion battery packs.

The company also connects converted vehicles remotely to ShiftWare, its fleet analytics and operating system, which help businesses make their delivery operations more sustainable and more efficient.

Shift EV’s service means fleet owners pay nothing up-front for the conversion and are guaranteed 30% savings over current costs.

Founded in 2020, Shift EV sees significant potential for its business model beyond Egypt.

“There are around 25 mn commercial vehicles driving down streets across developing markets across the world, from pickup trucks, minivans, to small trucks. There is a great opportunity here to retrofit our supply chains on the journey to net zero.” says Aly El Tayeb, CEO and co-founder of Shift EV.

“The reason why we chose to go after the last mile market is that most of the players in the market are run by large corporations that have strong mandates to cut their carbon emissions. Moreover, companies utilize warehouses in their operations, making charging so much easier,” El Tayeb adds.

The company is looking to onboard more clients and scale its operations across the Middle East and North Africa region.

To help meet that target, HSBC provided Shift EV an unsecured working capital facility to finance a portion of its retrofitting contracts with corporate clients. It is one of the first such facilities issued by a bank in Egypt. HSBC is also supporting the company’s import requirements through a secured import line.

“Given that the majority of growth in e-commerce and demand for related logistics will come from developing countries, there is an urgent need to hasten the electrification of last-mile deliveries in places like Egypt and elsewhere in the region,” says Ali Taqi, head of commercial banking at HSBC Egypt.

“Shift EV has developed an effective model combining innovation in hardware, software and financing to help businesses facing resource constraints electrify their fleets. By doing so, the businesses can not only contribute to reduction of emissions, but also improve efficiencies to support their bottom line and that of their customers,” Taqi adds.

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