EPA presses USPS to halt purchase of up to 165K gas-powered vehicles

[left-of-center2012]

Source: The Hill

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) on Wednesday asked the U.S. Postal Service to reconsider plans to purchase a predominantly gas-powered fleet of up to 165,000 trucks.

In letters to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy obtained by The Hill, EPA Associate Administrator for Policy Vicki Arroyo and CEQ Chair Brenda Mallory noted that the Postal Service fleet is one of the federal government’s biggest.

DeJoy, a Trump appointee and longtime donor to the former president, approved the current plan for vehicle purchasing, which only requires one-tenth of new Postal Service trucks to be electric. Oshkosh, the recipient of the Postal Service vehicle contract, is estimated to reduce fuel consumption only about 18 percent, burning about 110 million tons of gasoline annually.

“The Postal Service’s proposal as currently crafted represents a crucial lost opportunity to more rapidly reduce the carbon footprint of one of the largest government fleets in the world,” Arroyo wrote. “A ten-percent commitment to clean vehicles, with virtually no fuel efficiency gains for the other 90 percent is plainly inconsistent with international, national, and many state GHG emissions reduction targets, as well as specific national policies to move with deliberate speed toward clean, zero-emitting vehicles.”



Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/592553-epa-presses-usps-to-halt-purchase-of-up-to-165k-gas-powered

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Postmaster General DeJoy

[DURHAM D]

1. Stupid man. Stupid plan. nt

[groundloop]

2. So when in hell is deJoy gonna' be gone????????

[Rebl2]

4. That's my

question!

[LogicFirst]

3. So - is the EPA going to give the USPS the money for these electric vehicles?

[left-of-center2012]

7. USPS gets his funding from Congress

Not from the EPA.

[Hoyt]

8. That's the key. I heard DeJoy tell Congress he'd go 100% electric if they

appropriated the extra $5 Billion or so.

[Strelnikov_]

23. $5b/165k $30k/vehicle

Electric is a $30k premium? Sounds fishy.

[Hoyt]

24. The USPS budget already included a significant percentage of new electrical

vehicles, from internal funding. He was talking about the cost to go almost completely EV.

[paleotn]

11. Are they that much more expensive than internal combustion models?

[former9thward]

15. Yes.

Look at new car prices. Compare similar electric vehicles with gas vehicles.

[paleotn]

19. Not in bulk to the US Government

[former9thward]

20. Both gas and electric would be in bulk.

And the electric models would cost more.

[paleotn]

21. But pollute less.

and have lower maintenance costs.

[Sapient Donkey]

27. Would also have to factor in the infrastructure for charging the fleet

Additionally the electricity will cost money. I'm guessing that's probably less than the price they would pay on gas, aye? I'm sure the charging infrastructure would be a pretty large up front investment, though. That alone makes me wonder if a slower rollout would be required even if the USPS wasn't run by that Trumpian doofus.

I need to look around to see if there is a breakdown of the total costs for everything and how they compare.

[NickB79]

5. At the very least, use hybrids

It's mature tech. No reason these vehicles shouldn't be getting 40 MPG.

[oldsoftie]

14. Hybrid really is the way to go. A friend had a Fusion hybrid. Averaged 75 mpg

No distance fear either. Even better, make the electric motor the MAIN motor. Then recharge it with a smaller gas powered motor. Who knows what the mpg would be if they were made like that instead of how they are now

[Sapient Donkey]

28. Hybrid makes a lot of sense.

Give them time to build out all the required charging facilities, but puts them on a path toward going fully electric eventually.

[Lonestarblue]

6. Why is DeJoy still head of the USPS?

John M. Barger is still on the Board of Governors. He was appointed by Trump and his term expired December 8. Why hasn’t he been replaced? Unfortunately, the next two Trump appointees have terms that end in December 2022, so it appears DeJoy cannot be removed. Donald Moak is a Democrat appointed by Trump, but he supports DeJoy and his is one of the terms ending in December.

DeJoy continues to screw up the postal service, but he’s also playing politics. According to a Guardian article, the USPS awarded Oshkosh Defense a contract to build electric delivery vehicles in Wisconsin. Oshkosh has now moved that work to South Carolina, an obviously Republican state.

From the Guardian:

“Wisconsin’s political leaders and labor unions are stepping up pressure on Oshkosh Defense as well as the US Postal Service and White House to get the company to do that manufacturing to Wisconsin. The 10-year contract, which could exceed $10bn, is expected to create more than 1,000 jobs. These leaders warn that unless the production is done in Wisconsin, Democratic candidates will be hurt in that pivotal swing state in this November’s elections as well as in 2024.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/feb/02/wisconsin-usps-delivery-vehicles-oshkosh-defense

How much of this change was orchestrated by DeJoy with Oshkosh leaders? The US military just awarded Oshkosh a contract in December to build military vehicles. Perhaps they need to be reminded that their promise to build the USPS vehicles in Wisconsin should be kept.
https://www.thedefensepost.com/2021/12/01/oshkosh-tactical-vehicle-contract/

[lostnfound]

13. A "Democrat" that supports DeJoy. Check his papers please.

Is he crooked?

[former9thward]

16. They just had a vote for a new Chair of the Post Office Board of Governors.

The members of the Board, including three that were appointed by Biden, unanimously voted for Roman Martinez to be the new Chair. He supports DeJoy remaining as Postmaster General.

[melm00se]

9. Like many political issues

there is more to this story.

The main delivery vehicle for the USPS is the Grumman LLV.



The youngest vehicles of this type in the fleet are 27 years old.

The search, bidding and awarding the contract for a replacement truck took almost 7 years.

Should the contract have included a higher number of electric vehicles? Yes.

Should the vehicles been replaced long before this? Absolutely.

[Slammer]

32. more nuance is needed

An electric vehicle battery can last 100,000 miles.

But you typically lose 2%+ range from a battery charge per year.

And the range and how fast it loses range depends on whether the vehicle is used in a state with intense hot weather...and how often the battery is used until it's under 20% of its remaining charge...and how often it is quick-charged rather than charged overnight.

Replacing an electric battery for a vehicle of that size would likely run you $20-25,000.

For urban routes, fine, electric makes complete sense.

For rural routes in the south, southwest, and many parts of the west, a battery might not have enough range even while brand new to let the carrier complete his route. And the battery is going to degrade much more quickly in those states because of the conditions in which it's used.

[paleotn]

10. Why is he still there? Why? Why?

[durablend]

12. From the sound of it there's no urgency to get rid of *him*

[BradAllison]

17. They need jeeps back

Had to watch my mail carrier struggle to drive up the street with spinning tires.

[Postal Grunt]

29. RE: Jeeps for the USPS

Way back when I was in the early years of my time as a letter carrier, I drove those Postal Jeeps. They are much too small for carrying the volume of mail that a 600+ delivery stop route gets in a day. They were barely adequate for the 450 stop routes that existed when the Jeeps were in use. They were miserably hot in the summer here in Kansas and mind numbing cold in the winter. The heater and defroster units were more of a figment of imagination than a working feature. If you ever spent time in one, you would have wondered how such a poorly designed interior that had all the charm of a death trap could actually have been approved.

[JudyM]

18. Wondering if Biden could issue an executive order to require higher percentage of EV purchase.

Last edited Thu Feb 3, 2022, 01:01 AM - Edit history (2)

[Hoyt]

25. Maybe, if he includes funding.

[JudyM]

26. Would depend on the contract

and whether a production deal could be struck that would minimize the incremental cost. Lower maintenance costs and longer life of the EVs ought to factor into the calculations, as well, in terms of further justifying a change.

[FakeNoose]

22. Did you really have to post his ugly face?

Just sayin'

[BootinUp]

30. nice evil pic to go with the evil story. nt

[ancianita]

31. Good. Ford's working to make EV's cheaper. Pricings would be lower at gov purchasing scale.

Alpha Wolf -- $36,000-$46,000
Tesla Cybertruck $39,900-$69,900
Chevy Silverado EV $39,990-$105,000
Ford F-150 Lightning $39,974 -$95,000

The charge radius is around 300 miles, and the Ford Lightning is a market hit, currently, with a yearlong signup list of purchasers.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

33. How much oil company stock does DeStroy have?

[EX500rider]

34. "with virtually no fuel efficiency gains for the other 90 percent is plainly inconsistent"

Oshkosh, the recipient of the Postal Service vehicle contract, is estimated to reduce fuel consumption only about 18 percent
18% does not sound like "virtually no fuel efficiency gains" to me...sounds like almost 20% or 1/5th better