White House, EPA ask USPS to reconsider EV waiver for next-generation mail truck contract
The White House and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Wednesday urged the United States Postal Service (USPS) to reconsider its plan to buy primarily gas-powered vehicles for its next-generation fleet of mail trucks.
The EPA sent a letter to the USPS Wednesday calling for another hearing to review the 10-year contract with defense contractor Oshkosh Corp. for new vehicles. Announced in February 2021The contract could be worth $6 billion if Oshkosh is kept to build the proposed 165,000 vehicles.
When the contract was announced, USPS said nine out of 10 new mail trucks would have ductwork, but stated that more vehicles could be converted to electric power at a later date.
USPS Next Generation Delivery Vehicle – Oshkosh . Defense
“The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reported serious concerns about the adequacy of the environmental review that the USPS has conducted to date,” said Brenda, President of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Mallory said in a private interview. letter.
Mallory called the initial environmental assessment for the program “flawed,” noting that USPS spent $482 million to finalize the design of the next-generation postal vehicle before completing the assessment.
USPS said in a statement Reuters that it will consider the EPA’s concerns, but believes adding more electric vehicles would be too costly.
United States Postal Service Grumman
“While we can understand why some people who aren’t responsible for the Post Office’s financial sustainability might prefer us to buy more electric vehicles, the law requires us to be self-sufficient.” , the USPS added that it would consider “accelerating electrification if it is not “financially detrimental” to the postal service.
The Zero Emissions Transport Authority (ZETA), which represents electric vehicle makers, battery companies, charging networks and EV hardware makers, claims some concerns about USPS costs have been overstated. exceed.
USPS claims EVs will have a higher total cost of ownership, ZETA said, but the group cites independent analysis that shows full electrification could save USPS$4.3 billion and electrify 97%. fleets can be realized at a lower total cost than comparable new internal combustion vehicles.
USPS Next Generation Delivery Vehicle – Oshkosh . Defense
This aligns with a 2021 analysis that states that shifting the majority of federal vehicle fleets to electric vehicles could save US taxpayers $4.6 billion by 2030. That analysis did not include the USPS mail fleet, but the researchers say it would be well-suited to electrification because mail trucks operate on predictable routes that don’t take them very far. central warehouse.
Congress has also been trying to get the USPS to add more electric vehicles. A proposal for commission a fleet of all-electric vehicles was floated in March 2021, and Similar language Originally attached to the May 2021 spending bill.
