The United States Postal Service has announced plans to significantly increase the number of electric Next Generation Delivery Vehicles (NGDV) in its future fleet.
According to the latest plans, the Postal Service is expecting to get at least 60,000 NGDVs and at least 75% of them will be electric. That’s a sizable jump from earlier minimums of 20% and 50%, and it equates to at least 45,000 NGDV EVs.
The NGDV won’t be the only electric vehicle joining the fleet as the Postal Service expects to add 21,000 commercial off-the-shelf vehicles with electric powertrains. These will be selected with a “preference for domestic manufacturing” and the Postal Service will prioritize making carriers and communities safer with air conditioning and advanced safety technology, which isn’t found on the aging fleet of Grumman LLVs.
Also: Meet The New USPS Delivery Vehicle Coming In 2023
All told, the Postal Service is slated to have at least 66,000 electric vehicles by 2028. While that’s a significant increase from earlier plans, they still expect to acquire 40,000 ICE-powered vehicles. As the Postal Service explained, some of these are to meet “immediate vehicle replacement needs.”
The Postal Service said the increased adoption of electric vehicles was enabled by their network modernization as well as their improving financial condition, which includes $3 (£2.4 / €2.8) billion in congressional funding appropriated under the Inflation Reduction Act.
Speaking of the latter, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said “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.”
