The United States Postal Service (USPS) this week introduced plans to purchase 9,250 Ford E-Transit electrical vans, which can get the ball rolling on electrification whereas the Postal Service waits for its custom-designed electrical supply vans.
The first of the Ford vans are scheduled to reach in December of this yr, with deliveries persevering with by means of 2024, and will probably be accompanied by the deployment of 14,000 charging stations, in accordance with a USPS press launch. Specific areas are to be decided, the Postal Service added, noting that the off-the-shelf autos are left-hand drive, and thus will not be appropriate in all the similar conditions as normal right-hand drive mail vans.
“Ford is proud to support the United States Postal Service in delivering a more sustainable future for America by electrifying their fleet with over 9,200 E-Transit vans through the end of 2024,” CEO Jim Farley stated in a press release.
2022 Ford E-Transit
Ford charges the E-Transit at about 126 miles of vary, and in a fast spin we discovered it to be remarkably nimble for the dimensions and well-suited to last-mile supply wants. The E-Transit is already being inbuilt Kansas City, Missouri, permitting the Postal Service so as to add autos extra rapidly.
The Postal Service in 2021 unveiled its custom-designed Next Generation Delivery Vehicle (NGDV), designed to interchange decades-old mail vans, and to be constructed by protection contractor Oshkosh. However, the Postal Service now says the primary of those autos are nonetheless years away.
The selection of E-Transit vans as an interim answer helps solidify the Postal Service’s beforehand shaky dedication to EVs. The NGDV is designed for both electrical or internal-combustion powertrains, however when it was unveiled the Postal Service stated solely 10% can be electrical —and that the electrical model hadn’t even but been engineered.
![USPS Next Generation Delivery Vehicles (NGDV) - Oshkosh Defense USPS Next Generation Delivery Vehicles (NGDV) - Oshkosh Defense](https://i0.wp.com/images.hgmsites.net/lrg/usps-next-generation-delivery-vehicles-ngdv--oshkosh-defense_100869768_l.jpg?resize=640%2C360&ssl=1)
USPS Next Generation Delivery Vehicles (NGDV) – Oshkosh Defense
That led to a lot outcry, together with a lawsuit from states and environmental teams, in addition to criticism from the Biden administration, which goals to make all federal automobile purchases electrical. USPS officers initially caught to the unique plan, nevertheless, which critics stated was based mostly on flawed evaluation.
The Postal Service now goals to solely purchase electrical supply autos from 2026. Under a plan introduced in December 2022, the company plans so as to add a 75%-electric NGDV fleet, with solely electrical variations of those autos bought after 2026. The Postal Service stated this week that it plans to commit $9.6 billion in funding for these purchases, together with $3 billion from Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funds.
Source: www.greencarreports.com