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Electromobility Implementation Challenges and Opportunities in Urban Parcel Delivery: A Case Study of a Fictive Delivery Company in Miskolc

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: The growing demand for parcel delivery plays an important role in the integration of electromobility and urban logistics into urban delivery systems, especially in a mid-sized Central European city. This study investigates the challenges and opportunities of adopting electric vehicles (EVs) for last-mile delivery in the Miskolc region, Hungary. The author introduces a practical approach to describe the cost-based optimization of urban parcel delivery, formulated as an Electric Vehicle Routing Problem (EV-VRP) that builds on classical Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) concepts. The developed model focuses on route and vehicle allocation and examines the impact of charging infrastructure and fleet composition on delivery performance, while explicitly evaluating five cost categories: vehicle (including maintenance and service), driver, infrastructure, operation center, and environmental energy. The numerical results validate the model and show that partial fleet electrification can improve cost efficiency and reduce environmental impact even in regions with limited charging capacity. The proposed approach makes it possible to analyze the operational costs of electromobility strategies on last-mile logistics under realistic routing, capacity, and energy constraints. The results confirm that the integration of electric vehicles into city logistics can contribute to more flexible, sustainable, and cost-effective delivery systems. The numerical analysis shows that under the conditions examined, the model results in approximately 20% lower total operational cost compared to the conventional vehicle fleet operating under similar conditions. The cost structure is dominated by labor and vehicle-related components, while infrastructure, operational management, and environmental–energy factors appear with lower intensity.

Source: Urban Science

DOI: 10.3390/urbansci10010020

Author: János Juhász

Institution: University of Miskolc

Language: English

Topic: Urban and Freight Transport Logistics

Subfield: Building and Construction

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Industry, innovation and infrastructure, Sustainable cities and communities

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,930