The electrification of US Postal Office delivery vehicles

USPS Long Live Vehicle, Wikimedia Commons

In August 2009 the USPS released a feasibility study, Electrification of Delivery Vehicles,  talking about electrifying postal vehicles.  It concluded that broad use of EV's in the postal fleet would be operationally feasible.  Current technology would work well with todays average delivery route of 18 miles.  Further a previous operational test of electric delivery vehicles in California demonstrated that EV's were adequate for a 40 mile delivery route, and that only 3% of the postal fleet has a route that long.

See also: Several companies working on electric postal trucks for US Postal Service testing and Bright Automotive electrifying US Postal Service delivery trucks

A glance at the USPS news release page causes one wonder however over the fiscal wisdom of this.  Their news releases talk of declining revenue and competition from other services.  Their study from last August had this to say:  "The Postal Service is currently in the midst of an economic crisis and does not have capital funds easily accessible to spend on such an endeavor. Thus, without extensive funding by the federal government or private entity partners, it is not currently economically feasible for the Postal Service to do a broad fleet purchase. "  The study notes that approximately 6,800 postal trucks are nearing end of service life giving an opportune moment to phase in a few EV's.  Doing so would determine whether it's feasible to purchase a large EV fleet, and also explore the potential of vehicle-2-grid (V2G) technology.  (See the slideshow below for some details)

Their study from August analyzed four budgetary scenarios, finding one with an excellent payback period.  The worst scenario, with a greater than 10 year payback period, is if the USPS purchases and maintains the vehicles outright, has no subsidy from anyone, and does not get V2G revenue.   The best scenario has a 2 year payback period and involves receiving DOE grants and V2G service revenue.  

The study notes that 6,800 postal trucks are nearing end of service life, and recommends "phasing in" a limited number of EV's to test whether broader use of EV postal trucks is warranted.  The study also discusses "partnerships with industry" which appears to mean the V2G possibility.  According to the study there are significant fuel and maintenance savings.  The fuel savings are obviously the cost difference between gasoline and electricity.  Maintenance savings are harder to see until you witness a postal truck on its rounds, and notice that it drives 10 feet, stops the engine while the postal worker delivers mail, then starts the truck again to drive another 10 feet.  This is very hard on starter motors leading to rapid starter motor replacement cost, whereas electric vehicles are not harmed by constant starting and stopping.

The US Postal Service owns and operates the largest civilian vehicle fleet in the world including approximately 146,000 vehicles used for mail delivery.  The USPS has had electric delivery trucks in use from time to time for well over 100 years.  The first tests of electric postal trucks were in 1899 and other tests occurring regularly into the 1910's.  A fleet of electric postal trucks were used in Florida during the 1960's.  Another fleet were in use in Cupertino CA during the 1970's and 80's (a friend of this writer remembered seeing them in use).  Other tests occurred in Evansville IN, Austin TX, Alexandria VA, Huntington Beach CA, and other cities.  The single biggest order of electric vehicles in U.S. history was a 1999 purchase by the USPS of 500 electric Ford Rangers modified for postal use.  But in 2002 when Ford (and the other major car companies) backed out of selling EV's, this contract was canceled.  They have also deployed mail delivery scooters from Segway and T3 Motion. 

USPS delivery trucks are one specific example of commercial vehicle use on fixed routes that return every day to a depot.  This model is very good for electrification so long as the battery pack is large enough to drive the delivery route, as range anxiety does not exist when one knows exactly how far they're driving. 

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