Only 10 percent of the United States Postal Service’s new fleet of mail trucks will run on batteries, despite President Biden’s desire to convert the entire government fleet, USPS chief Louis DeJoy revealed in a congressional testimony on Wednesday. The remaining 90 percent will run on gas, although the trucks – being built by defense contractor Oshkosh – are supposedly designed to be converted into electric vehicles later.
When asked why it wasn’t the other way around, DeJoy said he was willing to talk to the Biden government, but the USPS “doesn’t have the 3 or 4 extra billion. [dollars] in our plan needed to do it. “USPS mail vehicles make up about a third of the government’s entire fleet. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The USPS announced the new-generation mail truck on Tuesday after years of bidding process. It will pay Oshkosh nearly $ 500 million to get the vehicles into production by 2023, and the defense contractor pledges to build somewhere between 50,000 and 165,000 over the next ten years. They replace the current mail trucks that have been in service for more than two decades and were built by defense contractor Grumman.
Many of those mail trucks – known as “long-life vehicles” or LLVs – are well past their expiration dates and some have even caught fire, which is not only dangerous but has also cost the USPS a lot in repairs and maintenance. In addition, they are not equipped with modern amenities such as airbags or air conditioning. The new trucks offer this, plus improved ergonomics and new safety features.
Both the USPS and Oshkosh said the deal was for a mix of gas and electric versions of the new vehicle, and that they would be “fuel efficient” and “low-emission.” But they initially refused to specify what that mix would be or how they defined those terms.
“The [new vehicles] are expected to be more environmentally friendly than current LLVs due to less travel required and better emission controls. These controls will reduce emissions and help improve air quality compared to the vehicles they need to replace, ”said the USPS The edge“Thanks to the flexible platform, the Postal Service can use the [new vehicles] with powertrains that maximize fuel efficiency, reduce operating costs and enable the integration of emerging technologies in the future as they mature and deliver operational savings. ”
Multiple bidding companies proposed all-electric or hybrid options during the six-year search for a new truck, which was fraught with problems and delays. However, only one of those companies was still in the running during the final phase: the commercial EV startup Workhorse. After years of struggling to generate income, many industry analysts and experts thought the USPS contract was the best chance for survival. But some thought Workhorse had a good chance, given it was the only one to throw an EV in the final stage, and because electric vehicles make a lot of sense in close-range delivery environments.
Workhorse said on Wednesday that it has requested “additional information from the USPS” about the decision and that it “plans to explore all options available to non-award-winning finalists in a government bidding process.”
Some environmental groups turned to DeJoy after the announcement of the new truck. The USPS chief has been under pressure to step down for months after allegations that he deliberately hindered the postal service’s ability to function properly during last year’s election, with a record number of people voting by mail.
“From undermining our democracy to delaying climate action, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy continues to fail the United States Postal Service and the American public,” said Gina Coplon-Newfield, the director of the Sierra Club’s Clean Transportation for All campaign. , in a statement. “The USPS’s lack of commitment to electrifying its fleet directly contradicts the Biden government’s goals and executive order to clean up pollution from the US government’s vehicles.”
But while DeJoy could be a good scapegoat, it’s not clear that politics was at the heart of the decision to go with Oshkosh. The Trump administration has shown disdain for clean air policies for at least four years. But it was also quite fun with the people behind Workhorse. Trump himself welcomed the sale of the former General Motors plant in Lordstown, Ohio to Lordstown Motors, which is essentially a spin-off from Workhorse. Former Vice President Pence attended the unveiling of Lordstown Motors’ electric pickup truck (which is based on an original Workhorse design). And the Department of Energy began conducting due diligence at Lordstown Motors for a possible loan from Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing while Trump was still in office, despite the ATVM program having been dormant for nearly a decade.