The U.S. Postal Service’s mail-delivery Jeeps and the slab-sided Grumman Long Life Vehicles (LLVs) that replaced them are two of the most recognizable vehicles on the road. Now a new model is rolling up to America’s mailboxes. That’s the New Generation Delivery Vehicle (NGDV) developed by Oshkosh Corporation for the U.S. Postal Service, and we’ve driven it at the company’s headquarters in Wisconsin.
The NGDV we drove was the battery-electric version. which will account for about 70 percent of the $2.98 billion initial order by the USPS. For longer and more challenging routes and climates, the remaining 30 percent will use a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder from Ford, with front- or all-wheel drive.
Passersby will be hard-pressed to tell the difference between gas- and battery-powered versions, since they share the same odd appearance (and 90 percent of their parts). Oshkosh designed the two to operate identically, so postal employees can easily swap from one to the other.
