The United States Postal Service announced further details in its plans to electrify its nationwide fleet with Next-Generation Delivery Vehicles (NGDV), including the purchase of 9,250 Ford E-Transit vans.
USPS also said it was ordering more than 14,000 charging stations to be deployed at its facilities after it announced in December said it would more than double its planned electric delivery vehicles purchases, and will buy at least 66,000 electric vehicles through 2028.
Overall, the Postal Service’s total investment in vehicles is expected to reach $9.6 billion, including $3 billion from Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funds. The December 2022 plan announced intended acquisitions over the next five years of a 75 percent electric fleet of Next Generation Delivery Vehicles (NGDV). Acquisitions of NGDV after 2026 will be 100 percent electric. As part of the earliest stages of the delivery vehicle replacement plan, a contract for 9,250 commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) internal combustion engine vehicles will also be concurrently awarded to fill the urgent need for vehicles.
The specific locations for deployment of the vehicles and infrastructure have not yet been finalized and will depend on route characteristics, including whether a left-hand drive vehicle is mission-suitable as well as other business considerations. The Postal Service plans to begin building out its charging infrastructure across a minimum of 75 locations within the next 12 months, and thereafter to continue the infrastructure build out in the succeeding years at many additional facilities as a part of our delivery vehicle electrification strategy.
After a competitive search, the Postal Service awarded a contract to purchase a total of 9,250 Ford E-Transit Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs). Delivery of the vehicles is intended to commence in December of this year, assuming successful completion of the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement that we announced we would undertake in August 2022, and the related issuance of our Record of Decision pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act. These domestically sourced vehicles will be 100 percent electric and are part of the 21,000 COTS vehicles included in the Postal Service’s vehicle acquisitionplan announced in December 2022. The Ford E-Transit BEVs are manufactured in Kansas City, Missouri.
To support the charging for all the newly purchased electric vehicles, both the COTS vehicles announced today and future acquisitions including NGDV, the Postal Service awarded competitive contracts to three suppliers for the purchase of more than 14,000 charging stations to establish an initial and ongoing Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) inventory. This EVSE inventory is the charging station hardware and software needed to support EV charging at the facilities from which the delivery vehicles will operate.
The Postal Service has been steadfastly committed to the fiscally responsible and mission capable roll-out of electric-powered vehicles for America’s largest and oldest federal fleet. The agency has continually assessed its operational and infrastructure build-out capacity, financial position including IRA funds, and vehicle mix deployment over the past 12 months. The Postal Service anticipates that this commitment of funds by 2028 for both vehicles and charging infrastructure will result in a total of 66,230 electric delivery vehicles and an overall acquisition of 106,000 delivery vehicles. All awards in today’s announcement are contingent on the Postal Service’s satisfactory completion of National Environmental Policy Act requirements.
