The U.S. Postal Service will also see major benefits from the bill. Democrats set aside $3 billion for the mailing agency to purchase more electric vehicles and charging stations. USPS is in the process of replacing its decades-old fleet and plans to purchase 165,000 vehicles over the coming years. Postal management initially said just 10% of an initial order from its contract for custom-built trucks would be electric, causing widespread pushback from Congress, the White House and environmental advocates. Just last week, USPS announced it was upping that to 40% of the first 84,500 vehicles the agency will purchase.
The Postal Service has not said exactly how many EVs it will purchase with the added funds, though Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has long held that he would happily buy more if Congress paid for it. DeJoy recently said the agency only got as high as around 70% electric in its previous calculations when assuming a cash infusion from Congress. Kim Frum, a USPS spokeswoman, recently said the agency expects the electric portion of its fleet to “evolve upward” based on changes to its operational, technological and financial circumstances.
