The US Postal Service plans to purchase at least 66,000 electric delivery vehicles by 2028 as officials urge government agencies to go “green.”
USPS officials said Tuesday they plan to spend an estimated $9.6 billion on the vehicle fleet and related infrastructure.
The move comes after months of campaigning by environmental agencies and a lawsuit against the USPS asking the agency to get rid of its “fuel-guzzling combustion mail trucks.”
“Instead of receiving pollution with their Chron packages, communities across the US are being unburdened by cleaner air,” Katherine García, director of the Sierra Club’s Clean Transportation for All campaign.
The postal agency plans to purchase 65,000 electric vehicles
The United States Postal Service plans to shell out nearly $10 billion for electric vehicles and “next-generation delivery vehicles.”
About a third of the funding for the green-focused project comes from anti-inflation law funds.
In all, the agency plans to purchase 106,000 vehicles before 2028, which will be a mix of “next-generation delivery vehicles” and “production commercial models.”
However, the vehicles will not completely replace the current batch of trucks and vehicles on the road.
In total, the United States Postal Service currently operates more than 220,000 vehicles across the country.
The current trucks are 30 years old and don’t have air conditioning and airbags, and only get up to 10 miles per gallon – some only do 8.2 miles.
The new delivery vehicles will simply begin to phase out the older, less environmentally conscious vehicle, officials said Tuesday.
USPS currently has approximately 220,000 regular delivery trucks
In a press release Tuesday, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy commented on the decision, saying the postal agency is overjoyed to meet its goals and to pursue greener ways of getting the job done.
“We are legally obliged to deliver letters and parcels to 163 million addresses six days a week at a cost-covering rate – that’s our job,” said the top official.
“As I’ve said in the past, if we can achieve these goals in a more environmentally responsible way, we will,” DeJoy said.
The new “next generation delivery vehicles” are expected to be on the road by the end of 2023.
Earlier this year, the agency released a look at the new electric and fuel-efficient vehicles they plan to add to their fleet in the years to come
Of the more than 100,000 vehicles to be purchased by the Postal Service, 45,000 are considered electric “next-generation delivery vehicles” and 21,000 “off-the-shelf commercial electric vehicles.”
25,000 are gas-powered “standard commercial vehicles” and 15,000 gas-powered “next generation delivery vehicles”.
“This accelerates our ability to maximize electric vehicles,” DeJoy said Tuesday.
The vehicles will be purchased by defense contractor Oshkosh and other established automakers.
Ultimately, according to DeJoy, the goal is to buy exclusively electric vehicles by 2026.
Many of the current trucks are 30 years old and do not have air conditioning or airbags
The trucks also only run up to 10 miles per gallon, with some getting as low as 8.2
The electric vehicle fleet would become the largest of its kind in the United States
In recent weeks and months, the Biden administration has been pushing for more energy-efficient options that government agencies like the Postal Service can use.
The White House also hopes USPS’ move will persuade the agency’s competitors to extend their timeline for similar action.
“I think it also puts pressure on them to up their game,” John Podesta, the White House’s senior adviser on clean energy innovation, told The Washington Post.
“If the Postal Service can come forward with such an aggressive plan, the public expects these companies that have made these long-term announcements to catch up in the near future,” Podesta continued.
White House officials say they hope USPS’ move will put pressure on the agency’s competitors to go green
“If the Postal Service can come out with this kind of aggressive plan, the public expects these companies that have made these long-term announcements to catch up in the short term,” White House senior adviser John Podesta said
Delivery giant Amazon has already pledged to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2040.
Founder Jeff Bezos also hopes to buy more than 100,000 electric vehicles from Rivian, a company he has a stake in.
Similarly, FedEx has said it will transition to electric vehicles and other green options by 2040.
UPS plans to purchase exclusively electric vehicles after 2025 and hopes to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.