The US Postal Service plans to acquire at least 66,000 battery-electric delivery vehicles by 2028, helping to reduce emissions. All new vehicles purchased by the postal service between 2026 and 2028 are intended to be 100% electric.
Postal officials intend to purchase 60,000 “Next Generation Delivery Vehicles” from defense contractor Oshkosh, 45,000 of which will be electric, according to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. The agency will also buy 46,000 vehicles from mainstream automakers, 21,000 of which will be electric.
Officials said the Postal Service will spend $9.6 billion on the trucks and infrastructure, including $3 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act, President Biden’s and congressional Democrats’ landmark climate, healthcare, and tax legislation.
“It’s wonderful that the Postal Service will be at the forefront of the switch to clean electric vehicles, with postal workers as their ambassadors,” said John Podesta, White House senior adviser for clean energy innovation. “It will get people thinking, ‘If the postal worker delivering our Christmas presents … is driving an EV, I can drive one, too.’”
The postal service must replace its 30-year-old vehicle fleet, which lacks air conditioning, airbags, and other conventional safety equipment. They only get 8.2 mpg. The majority of the funds will come from the postal service, but Congress has set aside $3 billion to assist build a nationwide infrastructure to produce more electric cars, such as those used by the postal service’s delivery fleet, according to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy in a statement.
The new cars will be safer and more efficient, with air conditioning and enhanced safety technology, unlike the ones they will replace. According to the statement, USPS would prioritize local manufacturing for off-the-shelf vehicles (those that have already been constructed).