Commercial, Distributed Energy Resources  -  January 2, 2023

USPS To Deploy Battery EVs By 2028

The United States Postal Service announced that it expects to acquire at least 66,000 battery electric delivery vehicles as part of its 106,000-vehicle acquisition plan for deliveries between now and 2028. 

The vehicles will begin to replace the Postal Service’s aging delivery fleet of over 220,000 vehicles.

The Postal Service anticipates at least 60,000 Next Generation Delivery Vehicles (NGDV), of which at least 75% (45,000) will be battery electric. New NGDVs are expected to start servicing postal routes in late 2023.

A total of 21,000 additional commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) vehicles are also expected to be battery electric. The Postal Service also anticipates including internal combustion vehicles necessary to meet immediate vehicle replacement needs.

These vehicles will, unlike the vehicles they are replacing, feature air conditioning and advanced safety technology and are more suited to modern-day operational requirements. 

The announcement is enabled by the Postal Service’s overall network modernization efforts which allow for more rapid deployment of EVs and $3 billion in congressional funding appropriated under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

“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,” said Postmaster General Louis DeJoy in a statement. “As I have said in the past, if we can achieve those objectives in a more environmentally responsible way, we will do so.”

In March, USPS announced a purchase order of 50,000 NGDV from Oshkosh Defense, including 20% BEVs