The United States Postal Service (USPS) has taken a major step towards achieving its sustainability goals by purchasing over 9,000 battery-powered delivery vans from Ford Motor Company. The USPS plans to electrify 75% of its service trucks over the next five years, and the new fleet of Ford E-Transit Battery EVs, which it expects to receive this December, is a significant part of this initiative.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy stated that “Electrification of our vehicle fleet is now an important component of these initiatives,” and that the USPS is determined to improve service, reduce costs, grow revenue, and enhance the working environment for its employees.
As part of the contract, the USPS will also purchase 14,000 charging stations, which will be used to keep the battery-powered vehicles charged and ready for use. The electric delivery vans will be manufactured at a Ford plant in Kansas City, Missouri.
This announcement marks a positive shift for the USPS, which had initially planned to replace its fleet of red-white-and-blue delivery vans with mostly gasoline-fueled models made by Oshkosh Corp. However, this decision received significant backlash from congressional lawmakers and environmentalists, as well as an infusion of $3 billion in funds from the Biden administration’s signature Inflation Reduction Act. As a result, the USPS reversed course in December and unveiled a $10 billion plan to buy battery-powered vehicles.
While the USPS will still need to purchase 9,250 internal combustion engine models to fill the urgent need for vehicles, the agency expects to receive a “commitment of funds” by 2028 to buy a total of 66,230 electric delivery vans, as part of an overall addition of 106,000 new vehicles for its delivery fleet.
Environmental group Earthjustice has praised the USPS for its purchase of battery-powered delivery vans from Ford but stated that the agency should have completed its environmental review before investing in the same number of combustion mail trucks that will pollute neighborhoods for decades.
The move towards electric vehicles by the USPS is an important step towards sustainability, and it is hoped that other companies and organizations will follow suit. As more businesses and government entities shift to electric fleets, it is expected that the cost of electric vehicles will continue to decrease, and charging infrastructure will become more widespread, making it easier for all organizations to make the switch to electric vehicles.