Should I use an e-bike, scooter or car for food delivery?

Choosing your delivery vehicle

Standing in a car park waiting for your shift to start, you will notice riders on e-bikes, moped riders dodging traffic, and drivers sitting in warm cars. Every option has clear running costs, rules and limits. What works in a quiet town centre will cost you money in a busy city.

Your choice depends on where you work, what your upfront budget looks like, and how much you want to spend on fuel, insurance and upkeep. Whether you are starting fresh or thinking about switching transport, here is how the three main choices compare on the street.

E-bikes for urban food delivery

E-bikes have taken over city centre food delivery for good reasons. You can cycle past traffic jams, ignore pedestrianized zone restrictions, and lock up right outside the restaurant door. You pay nothing for petrol.

• Low running costs: no fuel, road tax or expensive motor insurance policies.
• Easy parking: you can chain your bike to a rail outside the pick-up spot.
• Fitness: you stay active while you work, though long shifts in the rain test your stamina.
• Range limit: battery life dictates your shift length unless you carry a spare or stop to recharge.

For tax purposes, if you use a bicycle for work, you can claim the approved mileage rate of 20p per mile for your business miles. You can check the rules on HMRC approved mileage allowances (opens in a new tab).

Motorbikes and scooters

A 50cc or 125cc scooter gives you more speed than a bicycle without the parking nightmares of a car. You can cover a wider radius than a cyclist, meaning you can accept orders from further out without burning out your legs.

• Speed and range: easily handle hilly areas and longer trips between suburbs.
• Traffic filtering: slip past queues and park in tight spots near restaurant entrances.
• Insurance costs: moped and scooter hire and reward insurance can be steep for younger riders.
• Weather exposed: you are still riding in horizontal rain and freezing winter winds.

Motorcycle mileage can be claimed at 24p per mile for business travel. You also need proper hire and reward insurance cover, which you can read about in our Insurance for delivery drivers: what you actually need guide.

Cars in city centres

Cars offer dry seats, heating, and the ability to carry multiple large orders at once. If you also do parcel delivery or work in spread-out suburban areas where restaurants are miles apart, a car makes sense.

• Weather protection: stay dry and warm through every shift.
• Capacity: take massive grocery orders or multiple stacked food deliveries easily.
• Parking hell: finding a legal space near a busy takeaway can eat up ten minutes of your time.
• Running costs: fuel, congestion charges, low emission zone fees, MOTs and car insurance add up fast.

For cars and vans, the approved mileage rate is 55p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles in the tax year, dropping to 25p per mile after that threshold.