Yahoo Autos USPS Debuts EV Charging Stations, Will Add a Fleet of E-Transit Vans
The U.S. Postal Service has unveiled its first set of EV charging stations at an Atlanta delivery center.
Similar charging stations are planned to be installed at hundreds of USPS delivery centers across the country throughout the year.
The Postal Service also revealed that Ford e-Transit commercial "off-the-shelf (COTS)" full-size vans will make up a significant portion of the delivery fleet until the Next Generation Delivery Vehicles arrive.
The United States Postal Service (USPS) is in the early stages of overhauling 100 percent of its fleet to battery-electric vehicles. As part of that overhaul, the USPS, alongside White House officials, unveiled its first set of EV charging stations at an Atlanta delivery center today.
The Atlanta charging stations are the first in a larger set of hundreds of stations planned to be installed around the country throughout the year. They are also part of a larger multi-year effort by the USPS to convert to 100 percent electric vehicles.
A 10-Year Plan
"The improvements we need to achieve in sustainability are an integral outgrowth of the broader modernization efforts we have undertaken through our 10-year Delivering for America plan," said Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. "As we transform our operating processes and invest in new automation, new technologies, and upgraded facilities and vehicles, we will generate significant efficiencies that reduce our costs, slash our carbon footprint and minimize waste."
According to the Postal Service, the first 14,000 charging stations it builds will be manufactured by three suppliers: Siemens, Rexel/ChargePoint, and Blink. The stations showcased in Atlanta were manufactured by Siemens.
E-Transits While Waiting for NGDVs
Along with the new charging stations, the USPS also debuted its new Ford e-Transit delivery vehicles that will make up a significant portion of the Postal Service's EV fleet. In the official government jargon, the e-Transits are dubbed "commercial off-the-shelf delivery vehicles," or COTS.
The Postal Service is planning to order 21,000 COTS EVs, with 9250 of them expected to come from Ford. The COTS vehicles will supplement the impressively ugly 45,000 or so Next Generation Delivery Vehicles that USPS is planning to enter into service soon.
As the Postal Service points out, the e-Transit delivery vehicles feature much more safety technology than the outgoing delivery trucks of today—and of yore. They also feature novel improvements in driver comfort like air conditioning.
You Might Also Like
