Washington, D.C. (July 20, 2022)—Today, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, Chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, released the following statement in response to the Postal Service’s announcement that it will more than double its initial purchase of electric vehicles:
“I am pleased that following my Committee’s hearing and letter urging the Postal Service to more rapidly transition to electric vehicles, the Postal Service has announced that it will more than double its initial purchase of EVs. Our Postal Service fleet of the future must be clean, affordable, and electric. This is the fleet that the American people deserve. I am pleased by this progress, but I will continue to fight for the Postal Service fleet to fully transition to electric vehicles.”
On April 5, 2022, the Committee held a hearing that raised troubling concerns that the Postal Service used flawed assumptions in its environmental and cost analyses to justify the purchase of gas-guzzling delivery trucks rather than electric vehicles.
On May 11, 2022, Chairwoman Maloney sent a letter to the Postmaster General requesting information about the Postal Service’s acquisition of its Next Generation Delivery Vehicle and urging the Postal Service to issue a new environmental impact statement and to take steps to rapidly transition to an electric fleet rather than moving ahead with plans to buy tens of thousands of gas-guzzling trucks.
On June 1, 2022, Chairwoman Maloney issued a statement commending the Postal Service’s announcement that it would submit an updated environmental impact statement that it expected to result in the purchase of additional electric vehicles.
Today’s announcement detailed that, as a result of its new environmental impact statement, the Postal Service is increasing the share of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in its initial purchase order from 20% to 50%, for a total of 25,000 electric vehicles. The Postal Service also announced that it will purchase an additional 34,500 off-the-shelf vehicles, including “as many BEVs as are commercially available.”
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