By Jorge Ríos, CEO of Etecnic Movilidad Eléctrica

A few weeks ago I attended the NME fair in Milan, dedicated to passenger transport. I was surprised by its atmosphere: quiet, silent, and highly professional.

Those of us there were mostly technical profiles: operators, engineers, and fleet managers focused on solving concrete challenges.

The most impressive thing was witnessing the maturity in the electrification of this sector. Cities like Milan or Paris are already moving steadily towards 100% electric bus fleets.

In Spain, Madrid and Barcelona are firmly committing to electric vehicles, discarding other alternatives. From Etecnic we actively participate in these projects, and I can attest that this transition is no longer debated: it is executed.

Two parallel trade fairs, two realities of urban mobility

The contrast was absolute just across the aisle, where the heavy transport and logistics fair was taking place. A much larger and vibrant environment, but also chaotic and scattered.

I experienced this duality again at the AECOC Smart Distribution Congress, where the opposing realities coexisting in our country became evident:

■Urban centers with tourist pressure (Córdoba, Madrid): Goods distribution lives in a constant race against the clock and space saturation.

■Residential and suburban cities: Featuring wide avenues, where much calmer and planned night delivery pilot projects are already being tested.

“The electrification of passenger transport progresses faster because its operation is predictable: fixed routes, stable schedules, and centralized charging. Freight distribution, on the other hand, is dynamic by nature, fragmented, and much harder to organize without first changing the operating model itself.”

Game theory and the dilemma of commercial margins

At AECOC I witnessed both sides of the coin. On one side, giants like Amazon adapting their colossal machinery by relying on local commerce for the last mile.

On the other, a medium-sized entrepreneur confessed to me with honesty the real dilemma: when splitting margins across the middle supply chain and seeking a competitive price for the final client, sustainability is usually the first thing sacrificed.

Here arises the key question: who is willing to give up a bit of profit so that everyone wins?

If we applied game theory to urban distribution, the crossroads is clear: do we accept reducing margin by 10% to move together toward a clean model, or do we continue competing individually expecting someone else to absorb the impact?

Passenger transport found the answer by pulling in the same direction thanks to rules of the game that are easy to share. Freight transport, however, is still seeking that agreement. As long as it doesn’t achieve it, we will continue to see two speeds in the same city and sustainability losing to short-term thinking.

The diagnosis is already on the table and the challenge is not technological. The question now is: who dares to make the first move?