US Postal Service finishes plan with limited EVs

The US Postal Service has finalized a plan under which the vast majority of delivery trucks it acquires will have gasoline engines, dealing a setback to President Joe Biden's push for more electric vehicles.

The Postal Service issued a record of decision today for a plan under which at least 10pc of 50,000-165,000 next-generation mail trucks it plans to acquire over the next decade will be electric. The independently-run agency today rejected criticisms about the environmental review behind the decision and said it needed to start replacing an existing fleet of trucks now averaging 30 years old.

"The men and women of the US Postal Service have waited long enough for safer, cleaner vehicles to fulfill on our universal service obligation," postmaster general Louis DeJoy said.

Biden last year set a goal for the federal government to only acquire zero-emission vehicles by 2035. But the Postal Service cited the high initial cost of electric vehicles and its limited budget to support its decision. Efforts by Democrats to offer funding for electric mail trucks through a $1.85 trillion budget bill have stalled.

The Postal Service expects its new gasoline-engine mail delivery trucks will achieve a fuel-efficiency of 8.6 miles/USG with air conditioning on or 14.7 miles/USG without, compared to 8.2 miles/USG with its existing fleet of "right-hand drive" delivery trucks that do not have any air conditioning. The US Environmental Protection Agency, in comments on the plan, said the truck acquisition plan "barely" improved fuel-economy over the existing 30-year-old fleet.

By Chris Knight