By Jorge Ríos, CEO of Etecnic Electric Mobility
A few weeks ago I attended the NME trade fair in Milan, dedicated to passenger transport. I was struck by its atmosphere: quiet, silent, and highly professional.
Most of us there were technical profiles: operators, engineers, and fleet managers focused on solving specific challenges.
The most impressive part was witnessing the maturity of electrification in this sector. Cities like Milan or Paris are already moving steadily toward 100% electric bus fleets.
In Spain, Madrid and Barcelona are firmly committed to electric vehicles, ruling out other alternatives. At Etecnic, we actively participate in these projects and I can attest that this transition is no longer debated: it is being executed.
Two parallel fairs, two realities of urban mobility
The contrast was absolute right across the aisle, where the heavy transport and logistics fair was taking place. A much more crowded 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 were clearly highlighted:
■Urban centers under tourist pressure (Cordoba, Madrid): Freight distribution lives in a constant race against time and space saturation.
■Residential and suburban cities: With wide avenues, where much calmer and more planned night delivery pilot programs are already being tested.
“Electrifying passenger transport moves faster because its operation is predictable: fixed routes, stable schedules, and centralized charging. Freight distribution, on the other hand, is inherently dynamic, fragmented, and much harder to organize without changing the operating model itself first.”
Game theory and the dilemma of commercial margins
At AECOC, I saw both sides of the coin. On one hand, giants like Amazon adapting their colossal machinery by relying on local commerce for last-mile delivery.
On the other, a medium-sized entrepreneur candidly confessed the real dilemma: when margins are split along the intermediate chain and competitive prices are sought for the final customer, sustainability is usually the first thing sacrificed.
Here arises the key question: who is willing to yield a bit of profit so that everyone wins?
If we were to apply game theory to urban distribution, the crossroads is clear: do we accept a 10% margin reduction to move together toward a clean model, or do we keep competing individually hoping someone else assumes the impact?
Passenger transport found the answer by rowing in the same direction thanks to game rules that were easy to share. Freight transport, however, is still searching for that agreement. Until it achieves it, we will continue to see two speeds in the same city and sustainability losing ground to short-term gains.
The diagnosis is on the table, and the challenge is not technological. The question now is: who dares to make the first move?
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