Monkey see, monkey do—that’s what the United States Postal Service is going regarding its delivery fleet. They’re going to blow some $11 billion on electric vehicles after a push from the Biden administration. It won’t be immediate, but the goal is to have 66,000 cars delivering mail by 2026. Also, in that same timeframe, USPS hopes all purchases of future vehicles will carry zero emissions (via WaPo):
The U.S. Postal Service will buy 66,000 vehicles to build one of the largest electric fleets in the nation, Biden administration officials announced Tuesday, turning to one of the most recognizable vehicles on American roads — boxy white mail trucks — to fight climate change.
Postal officials’ plans call for buying 60,000 “Next Generation Delivery Vehicles” from defense contractor Oshkosh, of which 45,000 will be electric, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told The Washington Post. The agency will also purchase 46,000 models from mainstream automakers, of which 21,000 will be electric.
The Postal Service will spend $9.6 billion on the vehicles and associated infrastructure, officials said, including $3 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act, President Biden and congressional Democrats’ landmark climate, health-care and tax law.
By 2026, the agency expects to purchase zero-emissions delivery trucks almost exclusively, DeJoy said. It’s a major achievement for a White House climate agenda that leans heavily on reducing greenhouse gases from vehicles.
“It’s wonderful that the Postal Service will be at the forefront of the switch to clean electric vehicles, with postal workers as their ambassadors,” said John Podesta, White House senior adviser for clean energy innovation. “It will get people thinking, ‘If the postal worker delivering our Christmas presents … is driving an EV, I can drive one, too.’”
No one looks to their local postal worker to gauge what's hot regarding car sales. No one is going to say, 'look, the postal guy or gal is driving an EV'; I need one too,' that's ridiculous.
The USPS should post profits before blowing billions on a fleet that will probably cause more problems than it solves. Second, it’s not green since it uses fossil fuel to charge its batteries. Do liberals think an energy wizard resides within the power stations for these cars? There are logistical issues as well, especially post offices in rural areas. Reports of electric vehicles are conking out as the power station infrastructure remains underdeveloped. That’s all an aside; the USPS should have to post consecutive years of profit before this Democrat-led boondoggle project gets the green light. Blowing $11 billion on electric cars isn’t going to help bring this struggling agency to solvency.