(Bloomberg) — The U.S. Postal Service said it could buy more electric vehicles if more funding were available, following Biden administration criticism of the agency’s plan to replace its fleet mainly with gas-powered delivery trucks.
The Postal Service plan includes an initial order for 5,000 electric vehicles and flexibility for more “should additional funding become available,” Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said in a news release Sunday. “Absent such funding, we must make fiscally responsible decisions.”
The Postal Service last year awarded a 10-year contract to Oshkosh Corp. for as many as 165,000 delivery vehicles. Those would get better mileage than existing delivery vans and include safety measures such as automatic braking and a driver air bag.
I am concerned that many of the routes for mail carriers are in areas that may cause difficulties navigating the roads and streets in these areas. Electric vehicles may not be a viable option for these areas.