Manufacturers of zero-carbon vehicles, PeddleSmart, aim to create cleaner, quieter, safer and healthier towns and cities across Scotland.
Designed for urban spaces and last-mile deliveries, PeddleSmart’s range of FlexiQuad vehicles are carbon neutral and offer high capacity, interchangeable delivery trailers. Manufactured from their facility in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, and available to pre-order, the vehicles are a low-cost, healthy and planet-friendly way of transporting people, products and things whilst also overcoming transport challenges identified in urban city development programs.
The vehicles are currently being developed for various uses including freight, commuting, food delivery and people carriers and boast a range of operational benefits such as no licence, tax, MOT or fuel costs, aligning commercial rewards with reductions in congestion and pollution.
With plans for further vehicle developments, PeddleSmart sought loan finance through Business Loans Scotland which has helped support the business through this growth period. Successfully securing a loan of £49,475, the team at PeddleSmart were able to capitalise on growth opportunities and as a result of this, the first vehicles are set to come off the production line in Q3 of 2020.
Fully funded through the Scottish Growth Scheme and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), Business Loans Scotland (BLS) offer loans from £25,000 to £100,000 for new and growing Scottish SMEs. Supporting 39 businesses to date with loans totalling £2,570,675, BLS aims to ensure that good, commercially viable proposals don’t fail from a lack of access to finance.
Speaking of the loan received, CEO and Founder of PeddleSmart, Adam Reid said:
“Pedal electric vehicles that can carry freight and people in the last-mile are an emerging market disruptor, helping local authorities to meet their urban transport planning objectives in towns and cities in 2020, and helping delivery and transport brands to stabilise rising costs and reduce their carbon footprint. We’re just seeing the start of demand for vehicles like ours and we are one of the first European manufacturers to bring to market second-generation pedal electric vehicle range focused on B2B & B2C markets.”
He added:
“We’ve already received 70 pilot and trial requests from UK public and corporate sectors, including household brands such as NHS, Councils (Edinburgh, Dublin) and corporates such as Zedify and Social Bite to name a few, plus 8 distribution requests from international regions. We’re excited by the prospect of this marketplace, and the potential to support 2030 emissions targets, and are grateful to BLS for their support in making this happen.”
Andrew Dickson, Fund Manager of Business Loans Scotland added:
“The loan awarded to PeddleSmart demonstrates our commitment to supporting small and medium-sized enterprises across Scotland with funding to grow. I look forward to watching PeddleSmart flourish and seeing their zero-carbon vehicles being utilised by users across the UK and beyond. Additionally, I would encourage any Scottish businesses who find themselves in a similar position to PeddleSmart and are looking for funding to start up or grow, to visit the Business Loans Scotland website to see how we can help.”
