USPS revs up electric truck purchase after intense pressure


The U.S. Postal Service announces it will now convert 40% of its aging mail truck fleet to electric vehicles following intense pressure from environmental groups and states. Photo courtesy of USPS

July 20 (UPI) -- Responding to public scrutiny and a lawsuit, the U.S. Postal Service announced Wednesday it will more than double its original plan to replace aging mail trucks with electric vehicles, raising the number from 10% of its fleet to 40%.

The USPS announcement increases the number of Next Generation Delivery Vehicles to 25,000. The announcement comes after hundreds of thousands of public comments and a lawsuit saying the mail carrier's plan did not do enough.

The attorneys general of 16 states and the District of Columbia sued the USPS in April over its original plans to replace the majority of its trucks with vehicles that burn fossil fuels. They argued the plan did not comply with the National Environmental Policy Act requiring federal agencies to conduct environmental reviews before making major decisions.

"Once this purchase goes through, we'll be stuck with more than 100,000 new gas-guzzling vehicles on neighborhood streets, serving homes across our state and across the country, for the next 30 years," California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in the lawsuit. "There won't be a reset button."

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The USPS argued it could not afford more electric vehicles without significant new funding, while the USPS inspector general found electric trucks would save more money over their lifetime.

Wednesday's announcement by the USPS comes as a number of private delivery companies, such as Amazon and FedEx, switch to EVs.

"USPS is beginning to get the message. They're now making 40% of their next fleet purchase battery electric," Earthjustice tweeted Wednesday. "But this should only be the beginning -- it's past time we started replacing retiring gas trucks with electric mail trucks."


"These vehicles are amongst the easiest to electrify, as they tend to run on short, set routes, idling often," Adrian Martinez, senior attorney on Earthjustice's Right to Zero campaign.

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"Ultimately, the entire postal fleet needs to be electrified to deliver clean air in every neighborhood in the country and avoid volatile gas prices," Martinez said.

"The fight continues for an electrified postal delivery fleet."