The United States Postal Service is expanding its fleet of electric delivery vehicles with over 9,000 EVs from Ford.
The USPS has established contracts to purchase 9,250 EVs from Ford. The postal service also plans to install 14,000 charging stations across the country to power its electrified fleet.
Last year, the USPS only planned to make 10% of its next-generation vehicles electric, with the other 90% being gas-powered. Public backlash led the organization to up the ante to over 40% of its new vehicles — around 34,000 EVs.
The USPS announced in December that it would use $3 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act to increase its use of EVs. Reuters also reported that the postal service will buy 66,000 electric vehicles by the end of 2028, and all new vehicles will be electric after 2026.
The USPS has now begun installing more charging stations in 75 locations. Ford's vehicles will be manufactured in Missouri, and they will start delivering the promised EVs in December 2023, according to Reuters.
Any expansion of electric vehicles is a win for the environment, as they provide a major opportunity to avoid burning dirty fuels that pollute our communities and lead to the dangerous overheating of our planet.
"We are moving forward with our plans to simultaneously improve our service, reduce our cost, grow our revenue, and improve the working environment for our employees. Electrification of our vehicle fleet is now an important component of these initiatives," Postmaster General DeJoy told The Hill. "We have developed a strategy that mitigates both cost and risk of deployment — which enables execution on this initiative to begin now."
Senator Gary Peters of Michigan, an EV advocate, approves of the plan and will monitor how the USPS uses its funds.
"I have long pressed the Postal Service to purchase more American-made and union-made electric delivery trucks, and I applaud today's announcement that they will acquire new safe and efficient electric trucks that will be built by the Ford Motor Company and members of the United Auto Workers," he said in a statement.
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