The U.S. Postal Service plans to invest approximately $9.6 billion in the acquisition of at least 66,000 battery electric vehicles by 2028 as part of its plan to advance the electrification of its fleet of delivery vehicles.
The investment includes $3 billion in funds from the Inflation Reduction Act and covers the purchase of 45,000 electric Next Generation Delivery Vehicles and 21,000 commercial off-the-shelf electric vehicles, USPS said Tuesday.
USPS expects the new NGDVs to begin servicing postal routes in late 2023 and plans to reach its goal of acquiring 100 percent electric delivery vehicles in 2026.
By May 2023, the agency intends to release a draft supplemental environmental impact statement that examines the environmental impacts of its vehicle procurement alternatives.
“The $3 billion provided by Congress has significantly reduced the risk associated with accelerating the implementation of a nationwide infrastructure necessary to electrify our delivery fleet,” said Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.
“What is less widely understood is that our network modernization initiative is necessary to enable this vehicle electrification and will also provide meaningful cost and carbon reductions in other ways,” DeJoy added.
The White House said $1.7 billion of the Inflation Reduction Act funds will enable USPS to install charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.
In March, USPS placed a potential $3 billion order for 50,000 NGDVs from Oshkosh Defense, including at least 10,000 electric battery-powered vehicles.