The United States Postal Service (USPS) has announced that it intends to purchase at least 66,000 battery-electric delivery vehicles between now and 2028 as part of its 106,000 vehicle acquisition plan.
This transition will be enabled by the Postal Service’s improved financial position, which has benefited from 3 billion USD in congressional funding under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
The new electric vehicles will start to replace USPS’s ageing delivery fleet of over 220,000 vehicles. The service also anticipates that it will need to purchase internal combustion vehicles to meet immediate vehicle replacement needs.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said:We have a statutory requirement to deliver mail and packages to 163 million addresses six days per week and to cover our costs in doing so – that is our mission. As I have said in the past, if we can achieve those objectives in a more environmentally responsible way, we will do so.
The $3 billion provided by Congress has significantly reduced the risk associated with accelerating the implementation of a nationwide infrastructure necessary to electrify our delivery fleet. While most of the electric vehicle funding will continue to come from Postal Service revenues, we are grateful for the confidence that Congress and the Administration have placed in us to build and acquire what has the potential to become the largest electric vehicle fleet in the nation.
In addition to the acquisition of battery-electric vehicles, USPS’s modernisation initiative will include meaningful cost and carbon cuts through the reduction of inefficient transportation and an improved approach to distribution operations. These plans will result in less air cargo and fewer truck trips.
