After getting widely lambasted for putting an order in for tens of thousands of gas-powered vehicles, the US Postal Service is reversing course and ordering more than 60,000 electric vehicles to phase out many internal combustion engines in their fleet, the Washington Post reports.
Originally announced in February 2021 to be a purchase of 150,000 gas powered vehicles from Wisconsin-based defense contractor Oshkosh Corp. to be part of the Next Generation Delivery Vehicle initiative, the new directive orders 60,000 vehicles from Oshkosh, with 45,000 of them to be electric and 15,000 internal combustion powered. Another 46,000 vehicles will be purchased from traditional vehicle manufacturers as “commercial off-the-shelf” models, of which 21,000 will be electric. By 2028, the USPS plans for two-thirds of its vehicle purchases to be electric powered, with the infrastructure in place to manage the new fleet.
The current fleet of 30-year-old gas-powered delivery trucks achieves an average of 8.2 miles per gallon, partially because of the start-stop nature of the driving. The vehicles also lack standard modern conveniences and safety features like air conditioning, crash zones and airbags. Gas powered vehicles cannot be completely phased out of the purchase due to the ongoing need for long-haul trucks to handle some shipments and deliveries.